Miscalculation
by Allithea
Summary: When faced with an unknown enemy, one of Donny's inventions backfires, leaving Mikey hurt, Donny guilty and the rest angry. Can the family face this new threat, or will they pull themselves apart.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I of course own nothing and will receive no payment for this work based on the characters of someone else. Why else would I be here?_

* * *

"What's that Donny?" Mike asked after they landed on another rooftop.

"What?" Don asked as he pulled himself back to a standing position.

"That thing," Mike said pointing to what looked like a semi-automatic machine gun clipped to his back.

"It's a current disruptor," he answered as they started to run. They leaped over the ten foot gap and landed just behind Leo in the gravel of another rooftop.

"Why do you need that?"

"Something Raph said," Don replied, sprinting after Leo and leaping fifteen feet to another rooftop.

Mike landed behind him. "What did he say?"

"That," Don said pointing to the street.

Raph and Casey were surrounded by at least ten robotic warriors. Not foot, something different. Raph and Casey were holding their own, but only just. Most of the robots were fighting hand to hand, like slow moving street fighters. But a couple of the robots in the back had lasers and were sending red flashes toward the fighting pair every couple seconds.

"Cool," Mikey said, "Can I use it?"

"Sure," Don said, detaching in one smooth motion. "Just shoot it, like a gun. It should short circuit them."

Leo turned to them. "Mike, left, Don, right, I'll take center."

They dropped like bats and took their places. When Mike and Don were both in place, Leo closed his fist.

Mikey charged the first one, and flattened him with a kick to the back. He fell to the ground with a soft crunch.

Leo took out two with a flying kick. Then as he landed, he knocked out the legs of another with a roundhouse kick. Then he saw it. A weapon pointed right at Casey. With a grunt Leo throw his katana, nailing the robot in the face as the laser went off. The shot went high, right over Don's head.

"Careful," Don spat as he struggled with his own opponent. The robots were stronger then they looked. He fell on his back and threw him across the alley. He jumped up and moved to the next one.

Raph flashed a smile to Donny and fought on, tired as he was. Casey grunted to his left as a shot took him in the leg. Raph took out his guy and then quickly stepped in front of Casey. He blocked the metallic arm with his sai.

Mikey pulled out Donny's new toy. He pointed to the near robot warrior and aimed. The shot sent an electrical current back up his arm, but his target froze mid step and then fell over sideways.

"Cool," Mikey said and turned to take aim at another one, facing off with Leo. Again the current up the arm, and the guy fell over sideways.

"Donny, you rock," Mikey yelped as he started to take aim at the one with Raph.

Donny flew the air and crashed into the building. He was dazed for a minute, but looking up he saw the robot warrior leaning over him with a knife As the blow came down, he just managed to block it with his bo.

There was a yell. The robot was gone, replaced by a concerned Leo. Leo extended his hand, and Don took it, a stabbing pain in his left arm.

"You okay?" Leo asked turned to face the fight.

"Yeah," Don said, gripping his bo with his right.

One more shot from Mikey and the remaining robot warrior fell. They all turned in circles. Everyone was down. But just as they each felt a whoop of triumph, more approached from the end of the alley.

"No problem guys," Mikey said, striding ahead of them. "This thing is awesome."

Mikey picked off the first two before they were surrounded by twenty more metal foes.

"Round two," Leo announced as he squared off.

"More like round three," Raph shouted back.

"Who's counting?" Mikey said, taking out another one the gun. The gun started to whine.

"Mikey," Don shouted, "Drop the gun." He tried to detach himself from his attacker. As he tried to get to Mikey, the warrior slammed him and he flew across the alley again, landing on his shoulder and rolling back to a stoop.

"Mikey," Don screamed. "Drop the gun. Throw it."

Too late. The gun exploded filling the alley with a bright white flame and deafening boom. When the dust cleared, all of the robots fell over as one. Don regained his feet and saw was Mikey on the ground. He ran to Mike.

Sirens sounded in the distance. They were getting closer second by second.

They gathered around them as Don felt for a pulse.

"Is he okay?" Leo asked from over his right shoulder.

"He's alive anyway. Let's get out of here." Donny leaned over and heaved Mikey up by his armpits. Don's arm left arm throbbed and he nearly dropped his brother.

Raph gave Donny a hard shove and threw Mike over one of his shoulders.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?" Leo shot at Don twenty minutes later in the lair. They were crowed in the bathroom, Mike's eyes were still closed. The top of Mike's right arm was scorched from the tips of his fingers to his biceps.

"Yell at me later," Don said as he studied the burns. He muttered under his breath, "these aren't so bad… they look like second degree…"

Mike's burnt arm was resting in the cold water of the bathtub. When the skin finally felt cool to the touch, Don asked Raph to pull him out. They took him to the infirmary.

Working slowly, Don covered each of burns the with a light covering of bandages and ointment.

"Why is he still out?" Raph asked, his eyes burning into Don's scalp.

"I don't know," Don admitted.

"Is he going to die?" Raph said, with barely contained rage.

"He shouldn't," Don answered as he finished the bandages.

"Then why hasn't he woken up?" Raph shot back, louder.

"I don't know," Don said through gritted teeth.

"If he doesn't make it, I'm going to rip you apart," Raph snarled.

"If he doesn't make it, I'll let you," Don replied.

Splinter entered and joined Don's side as he checked Mikey's head. Then with a slight moan from Mike, Don found it. There was a nice sided lump on the back of his head.

Donny shook his head. Great, he thought, head trauma too. "Looks like he might have a concussion. That's explains the unconsciousness."

"So we wait and see if he wakes up," Leo summed up, his arms folded across his chest.

Don nodded. He grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer with his right arm and stuck it on the lump. "Did either of you guys see what happened? What did he hit his head on?"

"No," Leo said angrily, "The explosion took care of that."

"You might have seen it, if your ass wasn't on the pavement 20 feet away," Raph put in. "God Donny, you disgust me."

Don sighed and stared between the two of them. His arm throbbed. It was probably broken. He was going to need one of them to check it, set it. But before he could say anything, Master Splinter turned to them, with a look that Don hadn't seen in years. It left Don feeling suddenly cold.

"Leave me my sons," Splinter said simply.

"But Master," Don began, as his left arm throbbed.

"I said, leave me," Splinter said, his voice sharp, angry. Don nodded and followed Raph and Leo out into the living room.

If Splinter were angry, it was nothing to the looks on Leo and Raph's faces when they turned to face him.

"What the hell happened," Leo said, giving Don a look that he usually reserved for Raph.

"I don't know," Don said, helplessly, staring from one of them to the other.

"For a genius, you sure are saying that a lot today," Raph shouted.

"It exploded," Don said helplessly.

"Obviously," Leo said with icy calm. "Otherwise, Mike wouldn't be laying in there unconscious."

"It should have been your ass burnt to a crisp," Raph shot at him.

Don head hung in shame. He knew it should have been him using the new gun. But he wouldn't have been burnt to crisp. He would have known when to chuck the gun and duck. But he had thought, in the three milliseconds he considered it, that Mikey would have fun with it.

"You could have killed him." Leo said.

"I know," Don said dropping his head. "I didn't think…"

"That's the problem," Leo said, his voice icy, "You didn't think. And now look what you've done to Mikey. Dammit you should know better. You of all people. He didn't even know what the damn thing could do. You just handed it off, like it was some video game controller."

Don hung his head, he couldn't bring himself to look them in the eyes.

"An exploding video game. You're going pay for this." Raph growled.

Don looked up in time to see Raph heading toward him, but before Raph could strike, which Don was going to let him do, Leo darted between them.

Don was relieved until Leo said, "Not here, Raph. Let's take him to the Dojo."

Don looked between them, Raph's face burning with rage, Leo's face icy cold. He swore under his breath and he did the most logical thing that came to mind. He ran for the door.

He wasn't fast enough. Leo caught him easily and twisted his aching arm behind his back.

Don screamed out in pain, almost falling to his knees. But Leo managed to half march, half drag him to the dojo.

"If you think that hurts you shit for brains, wait til I'm done with you," Raph growled.

Leo pushed Don in the middle of the room.

"No weapons," Leo said to Raph as he threw his katanas into the mat. Raph followed suit with his sai's but he looked reluctant.. The both came at him as one. Don shut his eyes and let the punches and kicks knock him off his feet. He ended up sprawled at the far end of the room, his face planted in the red mat.

Raph strode over and pulled him back onto his feet. "Fight back, dammit."

"Why?" Don said, side stepping the kick that Raph sent at his face. "I can't beat one of you, much less both of you. Especially with only one arm. But if will make you feel better to beat the crap out of me, go ahead. You can't make me feel any worse than I already do."

Raph yelled and knocked Don to knees, then jumped and hit him hard in the back, sending Don sprawling again landing again on his painful arm, he yelped in pain despite himself and rolled off of it.

Raph pulled Donny to his feet one more time. Raph stared at him as Don cradled his left arm in his right.

Raph yelled, kicked Don hard in the chest and then stormed out of the dojo. A few seconds later, they heard the front door slam.

Don found himself by the wall. He sat up and leaned against the wall. His arm thumped painfully, he was sinking a pain induced stupor. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the wall.

From somewhere above Leo asked, his voice still icy. "Is your arm broken?"

Don shrugged, not opening his eyes. "I think so." It was pulsing with pain at every heartbeat, there couldn't be any other reason.

Leo knelt next to him, running his hand over the lump on Don's left arm. He roughly pushed on the spot. Don winced and nearly yelped.

"It's broken." Leo said, his icy look fading somewhat.

"Can you set it?" Don asked.

Leo hesitated, "You'd be better off having Master Splinter do it. Come on." He pulled his brother to his feet. "But you're not off the hook."

* * *

"I said, don't not disturb me," Splinter yelled as Don walked back in the infirmary. "If there was any thing I needed, I would come to you. Get out of my sight."

His master's voice was cold, furious.

Don dropped to his knees and fixed his eyes to the floor. "Sensei please," Don began.

"No." The sharpness in his father's voice made Don look up. "When your brother have hurt each other, it is bruises, cuts, scrapes. When you hurt your brothers, I am faced with this." Splinter gestured to Mikey still unconscious behind him.

"It was an accident, I didn't mean for it happen."

"And yet it did. The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, the higher price to pay. Go to your room, Donatello and do not leave it. Think about your actions. If your brother requires you, I will send for you."

"Father, please," Don begged. His arm thudded.

"GO."

Don went, briefly making eye contact with Leo as he past the dojo on his way to his room, cradling his arm. He dropped down on his bed and tried to make himself comfortable. Finally, he sat up, crossed his legs leaned against the wall.

No sooner then he had started to focus his breathing to help relieve the pain, then he heard his door open. He opened his eyes. Leo stood there, looking somewhere between concerned and disgusted.

"He didn't realize you were in pain," Leo said in lieu of a greeting. "He's coming."

"Thanks," Don mumbled, closing his eyes. The door closed with a quiet snap.

Splinter came a few minutes later. Don cringed at the sight of him. Splinter eyes held nothing but anger. Splinter hadn't been angry, truly angry, with Don for years. Don had made sure of that. He knew exactly where Splinter's line was and he always stayed far from it. He hated it when Splinter was disappointed with him. He couldn't stand it when he was angry with him.

Quietly and gently, Splinter moved his hand across his arm, feeling the bone underneath the muscle. A soft sigh escaped his lips, "Is this what you were trying to tell me when you intruded on my silence earlier?"

Don just nodded.

"It is broken, my son. I will set it. Leonardo."

Leo appeared from the shadows near the door. "Yes master."

"Please hold your brother. This will be quite painful."

Leo nodded, giving Don a long look. Leo pulled Don to his feet and then crushed him a bear hug, pinning his good right arm under his hands. Splinter took Don's left arm and gave it a jerk.

Don screamed and his knees buckled, but he didn't fall. While the rest of his body felt like goo, Leo's arms kept his shoulders and arm still. Splinter accessed the break, feeling the bones and then gave him another jerk. After several repetitions of this, Splinter finally nodded.

Leo sat Don back on the bed. Splinter handed bandages a few sticks to Leo and said, "Immobilize that my son. I return to my other charge, and my silence," Splinter said giving them both a meaningful look.

Leo looked sympathetic as he splinted Don's arm and wrapped it the bandages. "You look awful," he commented.

It took most of Don's willpower not to fall over. He trembled from head to foot, but he knew that Splinter's ministrations had done the trick. He could feel that the bones were back in the right place. Now all he had to do was heal.

When Don didn't answer, Leo continued, "If you get any paler, you'll pass for human."

"Sure, the shell and all," Don said dryly. "I'd be fantastic."

Leo finished and Don finally slumped into the bed.

"If Mikey's wakes up, I'll let you know." Leo said while heading to the door.

Then Leo stopped suddenly and turned around, "Where do you suppose those robots came from? They didn't look like foot."

"I don't know. Maybe there is something on the robots themselves. A manufacturer, or something like that."

"Good idea," Leo said. "I'll get Raph on his cell and have him swing over there. See if there is anything left."

"I'm sorry, Leo," Don said before he could leave. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean to hurt Mikey."

Leo gave him a look of frustration but then it softened into something more like pity. "I know you didn't. But that almost makes it worse, doesn't it."

* * *

_Author's Note: I seem to write a fanfic about every five years,_ _so go easy on me. _

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

_author's note: take 2: For clarification, I infrequently write fanfic, but when I do, I always finish the story, so I should have this piece cracked off in a couple of weeks. Also my TMNT cannon is at best, bad. I haven't seen the 4th movie, I've seen bits and pieces of the cartoon... So this is just my take on what I remember from the first three movies. Thanks for caring enough to review though... I'll endeavor to do better. Hopefully after a few chapters, you'll understand why Splinter is so angry with Donatello. If it helps, just remember that anger the natural reaction to feeling overwhelmed. _

* * *

Raph returned after midnight. Leo was waiting for him at the kitchen table.

"Feel better," Leo asked him as Raph gave him a wary look.

"No," Raph said. He kicked the door closed behind him. Beating up on a street thug didn't even touch the rage he felt at Don. Mostly because Donny wouldn't fight back.

"I haven't seen Master Splinter so mad in years," Leo said as Raph grabbed something to drink out of the refrigerator. "I don't know if Donny going to be able to handle it."

"Who gives a rat's ass what Donny can handle? I ain't done with that punk yet."

Leo shrugged. Underneath his calm façade, he could relate. "Did you find anything?"

Raph dropped a dirty bag on the table. A half a dozen robotic parts spilled out. "Most of it was gone."

"Where?" Leo asked.

"How the hell should I know?" Raph said.

Leo sorted through them, but he didn't see anything but a bunch of twisted metal. "We'll have to have Don take a look at it. See what he can make of it."

"Where is the jerk anyway?" Raph asked taking a drink of the soda he had grabbed.

"Splinter's confined him to his room," Leo said.

Raph's brow ridge raised. "Then I think I'll pay him a visit."

"Don't," Leo said, despite himself. He was pissed off too, but nothing good could come of a Raph/Don confrontation. Especially since Don was already hurting.

"Don't you tell me what to do, fearless leader," Raph said, pushing himself back from the table.

"It's not going to help."

"Yes it will. Kicking his shell will make me feel better. Even if he won't fight back." Raph said standing up and stalking off toward Don's room.

Leo caught him by the arm. "Look, I'm angry too. But you're just going make things worse. Get your temper under control."

Raph ripped his arm out of Leo grasp and continued walking.

"Raph, I'm warning you," Leo said.

Raph turned, his eyes burned with suppressed rage. With a yell, he attacked Leo. But Leo was ready. He parried Raph and then they circled each other. They moved slowly into the living room. Raph sent a kick at Leo's head, which Leo blocked and sent Raph sprawling into the couch. Raph rolled up and rushed him. He hit Leo in the chest and the two flew across the room, knocking over the chair in the process.

They rolled back onto the feet, and started circling again. Raph charged Leo again, and Leo threw him across the room. Raph flew into the television, which fell to the floor with a loud smash, cracking the glass and sending the DVD and VCR flying. They each hit a different wall, where they shattered and then fell to the floor.

"Leonardo, Raphael!" Master Splinter yelled from the doorway of the infirmary.

The two turtles pulled themselves up and then bowed their heads to their master.

The liar was deathly still. A minute passed, then two. After it stretched to five minutes and no one made a move to talk, Raph turned on his heel and stormed out of the liar. Splinter turned his back on Leo. Leo flushed. Leo walked to the dojo and started attacking the nearest punching bag.

* * *

In a dark room on the far side of the city, a small Asian man sat in leather desk chair. He was wearing tan trousers and a red polo shirt. Another Asian man, dressed more like a solider, entered his office.

"The footage is ready, Lord Lim," the man said.

"Let us see," Lord Lim replied.

A screen unrolled from the ceiling. A dark alley came into view. His robots had the two vigilantes surrounded and were wearing them down. One of the men, (but maybe not a man) pulled out a device, spoke into it, and then continued fighting. Several minutes passed with general fighting, neither side gaining, neither side losing. Then from the shadows, three other foes came into view, but they weren't human. They looked like large turtles. Lim studied each one. The orange caused the most damage with some kind of weapon. He took down five of the robot warriors in less than a minute.

The reinforcements came and surrounded the vigilantes again. But before the fight had really started again, a white flash filled the screen and then everything went black.

Lim turned to Lieutenant Woo. "What stopped the footage?"

Woo replied, "We think an electromagnetic pulse. Caused our robots to malfunction. We had two men on the scene, they were able to recover all the warriors not in pieces."

"Inventive," Lim commented, stroking the cleft in his chin. "And there are not two vigilantes, there are five."

"Yes," Woo agreed.

"Three, or perhaps four, are not human," Lim continued.

"Yes."

"They have interesting technology," Lim said, this time very thoughtfully.

"Yes."

"Hmm, this in an unexpected turn. But one that could prove very entertaining. Learn all you can about these creatures. I will reconfigure our plan and timeline to account for this distraction. We've planned for five years. Another few months are no matter."

* * *

Raph returned just before dawn. He sneaked in the liar and headed straight for his room. He sighed as he walked in thankful he hadn't been seen. Just as relief poured through is body, he realized there was a pair of eyes on him. Splinter stood staring at him impassively.

"Tell me." He commanded simply. And so Raph did, in faltering tones, often stumbling, stopping, and backing up to prevent himself from swearing about Leo or Don.

Splinter snapped his fingers. "Follow me," he commanded.

Splinter crossed the hall and opened a door. Raph was surprised. Don was fully awake, despite the fact it was five in the morning. Don's arm was immobilized and his face was wet with tears and pinched with pain.

"Donatello," Splinter said sharply, with more anger toward him then Raph had heard in a long time. "Follow me," he commanded.

Don pulled himself up, looking totally dead on his feet. He stumbled up next to Raph. The two made eye contact. Raph let his rage burn his brother's eyes. Don stepped back and put his head down.

Splinter led them to the dojo where Leo was mediating.

"Sit," Splinter ordered, pointing to the floor near Leo. Don and Raph sat down next to Leo. Splinter went to the wall. He pulled down three katana and threw them in the mat at each of their feet.

"Master?" Leo asked.

Splinter silenced them with a look. Then he said slowly. "If you want to kill your family, do it here, and face your death with honor."

With that he swept out of the room.

For several minutes, they stared at the swords by their feet. Finally Leo picked up his sword and threw it across the room. It embedded itself in the wall with a slight twang. Raph picked his up and studied it. Don left his sword where it was, stood up and crossed the room, sat down again, and rested his head against the wall.

Raph stood up and started pacing, "Now what do we do?" he asked them.

Don said with his eyes closed, "I think this is Splinter's way of telling to figure it out ourselves. And not to come out until we do."

"Thank you, genius. Believe it or not, I figured that out." Leo sneered, standing up. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions."

When neither of his brothers responded, Leo continued, "So what are we supposed to do? You," he said pointing to Donatello, "nearly killed Mikey. I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that. And you," he pointing to Raph, "can't get your damn temper under control. So unless you go through some major personality change, we will always be fighting."

"It's as much your fault as mine," Raph shouted back. "You have no right to question me. What I do with my own time is my own business."

"Unless it gets you killed," Leo shot back.

"It's my life to lose, Leo," Raph said.

"What about your family," Leo shouted, "How do you think we'd feel if you were killed?"

"I wouldn't be around now would I?"

"Guys," Don said pulling himself to his feet and taking his usual spot between them. "Why can't either of you just drop it? You're both in the wrong."

They both turned to him, Raph shouted, "You're one to talk, you ass. There isn't anything more wrong the killing your own brother."

"He's not dead," Don shouted.

"Yet." Leo said, turning away and pacing again. He walked over and pulled his sword out of wall. "Wasn't it you who said that they longer someone is unconscious, the more likely they'll die."

Don hung his head and didn't reply.

Raph was still fingering his sword. As Leo approached, they started circling around each other again, swords drawn, with Don in the middle.

"What are you going to do? Kill each other? Kill me?" Don asked. "Then what, go finish Mikey off and Master Splinter too?"

Leo hesitated and then retreated to the far side of the room.

"Raph?" Don asked.

He studied Don with rage burning in his eyes. He turned and threw the sword into the wall.

"Okay, so we've agreed not to kill each other. Right?" Don asked.

Both of his brothers nodded, but their eyes still looked murderous.

"What now?" Don asked as Leo walked back to the center of the room, absently passing the blade from hand to hand.

Leo shrugged.

"Raph?" Don asked.

"Hell if I know," Raph said, flicking his eyes between them.

Don looked uncomfortable but said, "Will either of you be able to forgive me for what happened to Mikey?"

Both of his brothers' faces grew statue hard.

"Well, then the answer is obvious," Don said, his face hardening.

"What," the other two said in unison and confusion.

"We're damn near twenty-one years old. If you two can't agree to disagree – and trust me, you can't – if both hate me, then it's simple. We need to move out. Move on. If we were human, we'd be in college or out on our own. We wouldn't be stuck here like this… like fish in a bowl."

Leo studied him. Don voice sounded pained, but his face was rigid, almost passive, as if he knew this would happen.

"That could work," Raph said.

"You're both nuts," Leo said. "We can't break-up the family."

"Don't you get it," Don said, with heat. "It's already broken. That's what Splinter meant. I can't fix what I did. I can't undo it. And over that, I can't guarantee it won't happen again. I could screw up something with your bike," he said looking at Raph. "Or your cell," he said looking over to Leo. "Granted, it'd be a neat trick to get a cell phone to explode, but my point is valid. I'm not a god. I screw up just as much, if not more than either of you. And because of who I am, my mistakes are more catastrophic. If you two can't forgive me – and Lord knows I can't forgive myself – then I'm not going to stay here. I'll explode."

Raph looked at Don like he had finally said something that made sense. He was nodding. Leo stared open-mouthed.

Leo said, "Master Splinter will never let you leave. Come on Donny. You're his son."

Donny turned away and walked over the to the wall. He leaned his good arm on it and hung his head. "Yes, he will."

"No he won't," Leo said. "Why would you even think that?"

"One loose cannon, he can deal with," Don said, turning his head to face Raph. "Another loose cannon, one that he doesn't even understand, sent him over the edge."

"What?" Leo snapped.

"Splinter has been able to deal with Raph being out of control. But he can't deal with me being out of control. Both Splinter and I know it. You can see it in his eyes every time he looks at me. He's more than disappointed in me. He's stunned, he's afraid. If I had accidentally knocked Mikey off a building, everything would be fine. But since it was something I made, he's angry. He has no clue how I can do the things I do. He can't help. So I can't screw up. Because if I do, there is nothing he can do about it. Can't you see that?"

"No," Leo said pulling him back around to face him. "I can't and I won't. He loves you just as much as he loves the rest of us."

"That's not what I'm saying," Don said. "I'm saying he doesn't get me. Since he doesn't understand, Splinter will let me go. He either wants me to leave, or he wanted you two to beat the shit out of me. Why else would he have dragged me down here to fight with a broken arm."

"So we could get it worked out, like you said. So we could be a team again," Leo said, his voice angry now.

"But you said it yourself, Leo. You can never forgive me for what I did to Mikey and you'll never get along with Raph unless he changes his personality. It's not going to get worked out."

Raph joined them at the wall, standing next to Don, facing Leo. "He's right. You and me are like oil and water. We never got along, and we never will. No amount of yelling or fighting will make it work. I need space. I need freedom."

"Can't you see it's better this way?" Don said. "If you and Raph can't find some middle ground, you're going to destroy whatever relationship you have. A little distance will preserve what you've got left."

Leo stared, opened mouth. "But, we can't just split up."

"We already have," Don yelled. "Don't you see." Don angrily wiped tears out of his eyes. "The damage is done. If Mikey dies, what will we have left?"

"He's right," Raph said. "It'll be better this way."

"How can you guys say that? Who's going to take care of Splinter and Mikey?" Leo asked, his stomach sinking.

"Well," Don said, back in his passive tone. "I think one of us should stay behind. And my vote is you. You don't stress Splinter out as much as Raph and I do."

"I'm with you there," Raph said.

"Should we vote on it?" Don asked.

"No, this isn't a vote," Leo yelled at them. "You can't leave. Either of you."

"All in favor?" Don asked.

Both he and Raph raised their hands.

"Motion carried," Don said, and he headed for the door.

"What?" Leo said grabbing Don by the shell. "You can't just walk out on me. Not you. Raph hasn't really been here for years, but we count on you. I count on you. Who'll take care of Mikey? What happens if Splinter gets sick? Who'll fix the television? Besides, you've got a broken arm. What happens if you get into a fight, you'll never be able to defend yourself."

"I'm moving out, not going to the moon. I'll be around, just not here all the time, like this." Don turned to Raph, "You find a place, I'll help you get it outfitted."

"Ditto," Raph answered.

The red and purple masked brother left the dojo leaving a stunned Leo standing in the middle of the room. Leo watched their retreating backs. This was by far the worst mistake they had ever made. He of anyone, knew it. Deep in his gut, he knew that they would all pay for it.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

_This is chapter is dedicated to anyone who has been outwitted by a five year old. Anyone who found out their three year old could read the word butt. Anyone who has tried to explain engineering topics (like the inner workings of a power plant) to a preschooler because he wouldn't shut up. Anyone who has found themselves giving a ten minute lecture just to close all possible loopholes. To anyone who has vacuumed oatmeal out of a bed. In short, this is dedicated to all the exhausted parents out there, but most especially to the parents of a gifted child. _

_Yes... I've vacuumed oatmeal out of my son's bed. And no, I didn't realize the cottage cheese container was even there or that it was filled with oatmeal or it was supposed to a drum, and I don't know why he decided to sleep it that night. I'm not kidding. I'm still finding the stuff in his room. This is why I write.  
_

* * *

They stood in Splinter's room a few hours later

They stood in Splinter's room a few hours later. Leo wasn't exactly sure what surprised him more. The fact that Don and Raph wanted to move out, or the fact that Splinter agreed with them. Splinter's only command – no, not command, Splinter wasn't ordering them – his only request was that they live together.

Don and Raph stared at each other like they had never really seen each other before in their lives. Raph shrugged and nodded.

Don was more hesitant. "Why?"

Splinter's eyes flashed with anger again at Donatello. Leo noticed, but couldn't figure it out. That was the look was Don had talking about in the dojo. One of the reasons he wanted to leave. Splinter dolled out anger and punishment, but never so forcibly on Donny. What was going on? He needed to find out. Maybe if he could figure it out, he could stop them from going. Then on the other hand, Leo thought, it might stop Donny, but it wouldn't stop Raph.

Splinter said in a voice calmer then his face showed, "It is safer, for both of you."

"But…" Don began, but a look from Splinter silenced him. After another look at Raph, he said to the floor, "Fine."

"Donatello, would you please look in at your brother." Splinter requested.

Biting his lip, Don nodded and left.

Splinter turned to Raph and said, "It is your duty to watch over him, my son."

"Who, Donny?" Raph asked.

"Yes."

"Donny can take of himself," Raph said. "Probably better then the rest of us."

"I fear not," Splinter said looking older and sadder then Leo could ever remember. "Though calm waters are at the surface, the waves underneath are strong."

"What do you want me to do? Make him dinner?"

"Follow your heart my son. You will know. Now, please leave me."

Raph, still looking puzzled, left, but Leo hung back.

"What is wrong my son?" Splinter asked.

"I don't understand," Leo said. "Why are you letting them go? And why are you so angry at Don?"

"The one is the other. I am letting them go because I am angry with Donatello."

"Why? He didn't mean to hurt Mickey. He's made everything so much better for us. He's the one who usually puts us back together after a fight. He fixes everything, invents everything. I don't know what we'd do without him."

"My anger is because of those things and is not his fault. I failed him."

"I don't understand," Leo repeated.

Splinter sighed. "Please sit, my son."

When Leo had settled himself, Splinter began. "You are perhaps too young to remember. There were four of you. Only one of me. You, Leonardo, always did what I asked. I counted on to help me with the others. Even when you were small, far too young for the responsibility, I asked it of you."

"I was honored that you chose me," Leo said.

Splinter smiled, "It was yours by right. I followed your lead. Perhaps you are older than the others. Your brother Michelangelo always filled my heart with joy. He would make me laugh."

Leo sighed, wondering if they would ever see Mikey smile again.

"I perhaps was not as hard on him as I should have been. But both of you made my load lighter, and I was grateful."

Splinter paused, taking a few deep breathes.

"It was all I could do to keep Raphael in order. I tried everything I knew. His behavior sealed my decision to train you. With discipline and training, I thought he could overcome his inner demons. It helped, but it was never enough. I have missed my soaps."

Leo was about to protest, after all it was him who threw Raph into the television in the first place. But Splinter raised a hand to stop him.

"Now, my son, what do you remember about your brother Donatello from your youth."

Vague memories came back. Donny endlessly tinkering, endlessly reading.

Leo shrugged, and said, "He was always quiet. He tinkered around a lot. He read a lot. He always wanted to get things figured out."

"Yes, he had to figure things out. He always listened to me. He would obey my commands, and yet, not. When I told him not to take the toaster apart, he took apart the microwave. When I told him not to touch the stove, he poked at it with a stick, nearly setting the liar on fire.

Splinter sighed deeply. "It was maddening. He could always find a way around my commands. He taught himself to read. By the time I realized, he had read every book I owned. Including many I fear a child of seven should not read. When he asked me to get him more books, I put him off. We had greater needs. He managed to get an entire library within a few months, on his own. He was sneaking out of the liar. I could not catch him. And I could not stop him, he would disobey me. I did not know which one would be the death of me, Donatello or Raphael."

Leo frowned, trying to take that in. He remembered some of that. Presents for him would show up some mornings on his bed, a basketball, a book about mediation, stuff that Splinter never would have gotten.

"One night when I returned, a television set was in the kitchen. I pulled your brother out of his bed, by his shell. I do not remember what I said. I do not want to remember. He held his blanket in one hand, stared at me and said nothing." Splinter's voice raised in memory of the past anger. "He refused to speak. He dishonored me, his father, the only reason he was alive."

Splinter took a couple of deep breaths. "I punished him. Perhaps you remember. He was confined to his room for a month."

Leo nodded, he remembered, he never had ever seen Splinter that angry. Donny could only come out to practice, eat, and go to the bathroom. That's when it started, Donny being in his room so much.

"After that, he obeyed me. But he stopped showing me his projects. He stopped telling me about what he learned. Donatello went to Michelangelo when he was hurt, not me. He went to you if something was bothering him, not me. He talked to Raphael about his new ideas, not me. I lost my son, right before my eyes. And what troubled me most… it was a relief."

Splinter bowed his head. "I should not be angry with your brother. Michelangelo's injury was an accident. And yet, I am. He overwhelms me."

Splinter looked sad for a moment, but he continued. "He is right. He needs to go. He needs to be away from me."

* * *

Don sat back in the infirmary with Mikey. The first time he had been allowed back to his brother's side since the accident. If anything Mike looked worse, not better. Don fused around, checking his pulse, checking the burns. He decided to put in an IV, which wouldn't necessarily help, but it couldn't hurt. He grabbed the stuff he needed and found the spot in Mikey's arm. But how was he supposed to do it with only one hand?

He sighed, he'd need Leo's help.

Don walked over to the cabinet and grabbed the painkillers. He swallowed four of them dry and then dropped down on the other bed. He lay down on his good arm, and turned so he was looking away from the door. The tears came, one after another. They burned his eyes and ran into his mouth, salty, like seawater.

The guilt was almost too much to bear. Mikey, as dead as alive. Don never should have never handed off that weapon. He was the only one who understood how it worked. He hadn't even thought about it. He literally put a bomb in his brother's hands. The one brother who really seemed to truly care about him, as a person.

And then Leo. Don had purposely outmaneuvered him. He knew Raph's buttons. He knew exactly where to push to get Raph on his side. It worked. Don got his way. He got to move out. Not that it would have mattered if Raph hadn't gone for it, Don would have done it anyway. Just like when he was a kid, he said what Splinter wanted to hear and then did his own thing.

Which brought him to Splinter. Don felt as much guilt as anger at Splinter. This wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault he was who he was, that he could do the things he could do. He had been able to outmaneuver his father by age eight. And he used it to get the things he needed so he wouldn't explode. It was amazing that Don wasn't killed or worse from the stunts he pulled as a kid.

By the time Splinter caught him, it had been going on for nearly a year. Now he understood why Splinter punished him so harshly. But at the time, it seemed like the world had ended.

Don remembered that more clearly than any of his other childhood memories. Splinter towered over him and screamed. He walked over to the door, threw it open, and pointed out. He said if Don didn't start behaving more like Leo, he would throw him out. He said that he couldn't deal with him. Couldn't be responsible for him. Don froze, nothing could come out of his mouth. When he wouldn't talk, Splinter sent him to his room and told him to stay there.

The memory still terrified him. At the time, he couldn't figure out why Splinter was so angry with him for what was a he considered prank. And then to punish him for a whole month. Don's head nearly unscrewed itself.

Don tried to be more like Leo. He stopped leaving the liar at night, and he followed all of Splinter's rules to the letter. He practiced his ninja skills. But his heart wasn't in it. Splinter had never been one to lavish attention on anyone beside Mikey, but after that night, Don felt he was invisible. That he was the person who couldn't have problems.

But he did, he thought sitting up. The first was figuring out how to get an IV into Mikey. Next was researching more about concussions.

He called from the door, "Hey, Leo. Could you give me a hand?"


	4. Chapter 4

Drifting blackness.

Pain.

Light.

"Mikey," Raph said rushing to his side. "Mikey's awake," Raph yelled at the door. He grabbed Mike's hand and squeezed it. It felt cool and clammy in his hand. But he felt a squeeze back.

Mikey's eyelids fluttered open. Don, Leo, and Splinter all ran into the room, just in time to see Mikey's eyes, out of focus, stare at each of them in turn. Then they drifted shut.

Splinter stroked Mike's head and Leo took his other hand. Don dropped on the other bed. He let out a shaky breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding. But a huge weight lifted off of him. Mikey's, his Mikey, was going to live.

* * *

His head ached. He moaned and tried to move his arm to rub his aching temples. But for some reason his hand wouldn't work. That puzzled him, so he opened his eyes. The room was dark. He scanned around and saw Don sleeping in the bed next to him. Donny's arm was bound from his shoulder to his wrist.

"What happened?" Mikey croaked.

His voice was a whisper thread, but Donny jumped up. He grabbed Mikey's good left hand, with his good right one. Tears formed in the corners of Don's eyes. "How you feeling?"

"Not good," Mikey answered in that same whispery voice.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Head." The pain ran all around his head, flashing from one side to another like lightening bolts.

"Let me get you something," Don said, starting to pull away.

Mikey held fast to the warm hand in his. "Stay," he said.

And Donny did.

* * *

The next day, Leo looked in on Don and Raph as they studied something on the computer screen in Donny's lab. They didn't see him standing there. Leo had that awful pit in his stomach again.

Don struggled for awhile typing one handed, finally after he started swearing, Raph gave his rolling chair a push, grabbed another chair, and put himself in front of the screen. If Leo hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed it. Raph's maneuver won a grin from Donny. A half hearted one anyway.

"It's gotta be in here somewhere?" Don mumbled studying the screen from behind Raph's shoulder.

"If you tell me what you're looking for…" Raph said, rolling his eyes.

"The guys that built these sewer tunnels… they needed a place to, you know, put their stuff, eat lunch, like a break room. Because they wouldn't have stopped working long enough to go above ground."

"I don't see anything like that. It's all just circles," Raph said, cocking his head to the side.

Donny grabbed the mouse from his hand. "Try that… 2D instead of 3D… easier to make out"

"Whoa," Raph said and his eye opened wide. "That's actually cool."

Another grin from Donny. Leo thought he might have understood what Splinter was trying to do, but he still had a bad feeling about it.

Donny dropped the mouse and pointed at a section of the screen. "Zoom in there…. Yeah that button, now shift it up… no that's down… up. Right. It's got to be in here."

"There is nothing there."

"Not on the map. But see how these tunnels all radiate out from this point. This would have been a good spot for a break room."

"So what do I look for?" Raph asked, turning to look at him.

"Well.. that's a good question. A door, but it'll be hard to find. It probably hasn't been used in over 30 years, so it'll be covered with God knows what."

"A door." Raph said mechanically.

"A hidden door," Don added.

"Which way does it open?" Raph asked.

"Huh?"

"Does it open in or out? Are the hinges on the inside or the outside."

Don looked truly stunned. "It would have to open out because of the curve of the wall…. So the… The hinges would on the outside. Damn, Raph you're a genius."

"Don't go telling anyone," Raph with a smile. "I got a reputation."

"They wouldn't listen to me anyway," Don said pulling back from the screen. "Does that give you enough? I'd go with you, but," Don looked down at his arm. "If we got ambushed again, I'd be more of a pain than I'm worth."

"Does it bug you?" Raph nodded at his arm.

Donny gave a one-armed shrug. "I've had worse. It's nothing to what Mikey's going through."

"It wasn't your fault."

Don looked at him, shocked, and then dropped his head and pulled his good arm across his chest. "So whose was it then? Did some alien drop the current disrupter in his hand?"

"So what. It's not like you meant it to happen."

"No, but that makes it almost worse doesn't it." Don said turning around and fingering the books on his shelf.

Still hidden in the shadows at the door, Leo felt his heart drop into his stomach. The words were so familiar, it was like Don had used Leo's voice. The pitch, the inflection, all of it was Leo, spoken out of Donatello's mouth. And with a shock, he remembered that they were his words. He remembered how angry he had been. That the weapon was unnecessary. They could have easily taken care of the situation without it. And then it exploded and Mikey was unconscious and his ears were ringing, and… Donny wanted to leave. Shit. Leo turned and ducked away just as Raph was rising from his chair.

* * *

Later that night, Donny's soft voice said, "Okay Mikey, can you squeeze my hand." Obediently the pressure came.

"That's great," relief rushed into Don's stomach. "Now can you wiggle your toes?"

The green toes wiggled slowly, first on one foot, then the other.

"Thank God," Don said. "How's the pain?"

It was soft, and garbled, but the word Mike used was "better."

"Try and get some rest little buddy. I'll be here if you need me."

"Kay."

"How is your pain my son?"

Don spun to see Master Splinter watching him. The old rat's eyes were oddly blank of expression. That was better than the anger anyway.

"It's fine."

"What about your other pain?" Splinter asked.

Don eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You have not been in your lab."

"I was there this afternoon."

"And you fled as soon as your brother left you."

"It's not like I can build anything like this," Don said shrugging. He rolled the shoulder of his broken arm and it sent a sudden sting down to his hand. He winced despite himself.

"You have not used your computer." Splinter said, softly.

"Once again, attack of the broken arm," Don said, trying to keep his voice light.

"Nor have you been reading."

Don kept his mouth shut. There was no quip that could counter that. The seconds rolled by, until a full minute had passed.

Splinter's eyes looked sad. "And here we are again. You say you are not in pain, but you are. You say there is nothing wrong, and yet there is. And once again, you and I stare at other through panes of glass."

Don bit on the inside of his lip. Fury whipped up from chest into his throat. It was nearly overwhelming. He wanted to scream at the old rat. To just be heard.

To give his father back his share of the anger that pumped through his body. Years worth of it. Twenty years worth of feeling like an outsider, twenty years worth of being the butt of everyone's jokes, twenty years of poundings from his brothers because he wasn't good enough, twenty years worth of pressure to be engineer, doctor, and a host of other things simply because no one else could or would.

But on the heels of those thoughts, he knew his words could never be unsaid. Fear surfaced. If he let go of his tight grip on the anger, he wouldn't be able to control it. What would he say? What would he do? Splinter may never forgive him. As he stared down at his master, his father, and he knew he couldn't do it. He couldn't be angry at his father. It wasn't his father's fault. It just was. It would be as pointless as getting angry at the sky for being blue.

With an act of concentrated will, he quenched the fire of feelings. He dropped to his knees before his father and bowed his head. He regained control of himself with each breath.

Don felt the small warm hand on his shoulder. Splinter spoke from above him, "You have a gift for that, my son. Perhaps a lesson to your brother Raphael is in order. It will return, only stronger. And continue to fester, like an old wound." Splinter ran his fingers across the scar of a nasty gash on Don's shoulder that he got fighting the foot years ago.

Then he put his hand under Don's chin and lifted it so he could look him in the eyes. "That has been my mistake. Festering anger. And I have suffered for it. But not as much as you suffered."

Tears sprang in Don's eyes again, and he mentally kicked himself. How was it he could shove twenty years worth of anger, but couldn't stop the simple flow of tears.

Don turned his head away. Splinter placed both of his hands on his head. "As you find your path, my son, know I love you. And I am sorry. I hope there is still a place in your heart for me."

A wall of emotion hit Don in the gut hard, like someone had punched him. His heart raced. It was too much. Anger, fear, grief, and guilt rolled into relief, hope, love and respect. His heart raced. He felt like a trapped animal. He leapt to his feet and sprinted out of the room. He whizzed passed Raph, who was staring at the television like it worked, and then he headed out the front door. He ran, like he had never run before.

Raph stared at the front door from the couch. What the hell, he thought turning to face Leo who had just come out of his bedroom.

Leo stared at him in confusion, "What? It was Donny who just ran out?" Leo asked.

"Without his bo," Raph said, as he fingered his own weapons to make sure they were there. He leaped to his feet.

"Let's go," Leo said, already heading to the door.

* * *

It didn't take long to catch him. It took much longer to convince him to stop. They chased him down and asked him to stop. Don gave them a look that Raph had never on his face before. Donny looked utterly bewildered. Confused. Like he didn't even know who he was. Leo asked him again to stop and Don scowled and he picked up speed.

They were in a full out sprint, when Leo changed tactics. He pulled in front of Don, stuck out his right arm, and planted his feet. Don hit his arm with a loud smack, and fell flat on his back.

"What … the… hell…" Don said gasping.

"Save it Donny," Raph said, pulling him to his feet. "It's exactly what you would have done to me a thousand times if you could have caught me."

"No… I… wouldn't…"

"Why did you run out like that?" Leo asked rubbing his bruised arm.

"I… I…" The confused look returned as Don panted.

"Leave it Leo," Raph growled. "Let's just get back home."

"No!" Don yelled, backing away from them.

"Come on Donny,"

Leo looked like he was going to grab him, but Raph grabbed Leo's arm before he could do it. "Don't Leo"

Leo stared back at Raph.

"Wait," Raph said quietly into Leo's ear. "He ain't going be able to run like that." Don's breath was still coming in heavy gasps. "You knocked the wind out of him. Give him a second. He'll be feeling better in a minute."

Leo opened his eyes wide at Raph. But he didn't say anything and he let his arm drop. After a few minutes of standing around staring at each other, Don finally turned toward them. The dazed look was replaced with an annoyed one. He walked between them heading back toward the liar. He strung together a half dozen swear words (several of which Raph didn't know he knew) and ended in the phrase, "And now I'm screwed my promise to Mikey. Is there anything else I could possibly mess up… "

He picked up the pace again, this time a light jog. They followed him back to the liar. Raph watched him as he peeked into the infirmary. Then after a moment of hesitation, Don walked to Mikey's side. Mikey was asleep, but Don dropped down in the chair next to the bed.

"I'm sorry, I took off little buddy," Don said as Raph watched. "I guess I lost it. It was scary for a minute there." Don continued to talk to the unconscious form, "it looked like Leo was concerned to enough to try to get me to talk. But luckily Raph talked him out of it." Don's eyes rose and met Raph's in the doorway. "I guess I should tell him thank you, but considering he chased me down and let Leo clothes line me, I'm not feeling particularly grateful."

Don returned his eyes to Mikey, "All those times, we let him burn off steam by running off at all hours, you'd think he'd return the favor."

Raph's chest burned. He reached over and grabbed Don's bo, which was leaning against the wall by the desk. He threw it at Don like a javelin. Don stopped it with the palm of his right hand, then caught it and slung it into its holder in one smooth movement.

Raph's gaze was smoky… intense and angry, but for once, there was no bitterness. There was only concern. Don broke eye contact first. Looking back down at Mikey, Don said, "Point taken. Thank you."

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

For whatever reason, Donny had started spending a lot of time with Mikey. Mikey figured at first it was because Don was worried about him. Playing video games would be a good way to test hand eye coordination. To see if there was any leftover problems from his concussion. But a week passed with no headaches and Mike had surpassed his new high score with Don sitting at his side.

Then he thought it was because Don's broken arm was bugging him. But after the third week passed, Leo rewrapped the break to give Don more freedom of movement. Don was still sitting next to him, night after night, playing video games.

After they had played twenty rounds of Mortal Kombat, Mike said, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"You mean "here" as on Earth, or "here" as sitting here on the couch."

"Don't get all philosophical on me. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's always better with another player, but I can tell you're bored. So what are you doing here? Why aren't you in your lab?"

Donny's squirmed a bit in his chair and his eyes shifted. "How's the arm?"

Mikey frowned, "It's fine. Better than yours. Why aren't you in your lab?"

"I'm feeling pretty tired," Don said, jumping up off the couch. "I think I'll turn in."

"It's not even 10," Mike said.

Donny turned on his heel and started to walk away. Mikey followed him to his room and watched as Don lay down on his bed.

"What's going on?" Mike asked, pushing Don's feet aside and sitting next to him. "Master Splinter has been moping, Leo has been quiet, and Raph hasn't lost his temper in three weeks. All that I can live with. I was a bit weirded out after I noticed Raph was calm. As for Leo, he hasn't lectured me, which is a nice change. But I figured it was because I had perfect form in the dojo this morning."

That got a crack of a smile from Don.

"I figured that Splinter was mad because Raph and Leo broke the TV, at least I assume that they broke it, because you would have killed yourself to protect it. I thought that Splinter would feel better as soon as you fixed it. But Raph fixed it."

"He found a new one," Don said, sighing.

"Same difference. The Don I used to know would have found one three minutes after the old one had died. It would have had a remote, and you wouldn't have to turn your head sideways to make things out." Mike said eying him carefully. "So the rest of them… the change isn't so bad… but you…"

"What?"

"You tell me?" Mike said. "Why is my next biggest brother acting like he has a totally new personality. It's like I've landed in the twilight zone."

"Probably just the concussion," Don said, closing his eyes.

"Don't," Mike said. He pushed Don off the bed and sent him sprawling on the floor. "You might be able to pull that off with everyone else, but not me. What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Don said, rolling back into a sitting position.

Mikey hit him across the back of the head. "Don't give me that crap. Tell me what's wrong."

"Hey," Don said. "I'm serious, I don't know." He grabbed Mike's hand before it hit him again. "I don't know."

Mike studied him, he was serious. He shook his wrist out of Don's hand. "Let's step back. Why aren't you in the lab right now? Inventing some cool new gadget."

"I just don't feel like it."

"And you feel like playing video games with me?"

"No, I don't feel like doing that either, but it passes the time."

"What do you feel like doing?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all?"

Don shook his head.

"Have you talked to Splinter about it?"

Don's eye ridge raised.

"I'm sure he'd want to know that you're so down."

"He knows."

It was Mikey's turned to raise his eye ridge with a disbelieving stare.

"Yes, he does." Don said.

"Then what did he say? Do what you normally do and then eventually, you'll feel better. That's what he told me."

Don's eyes were fixed on the floor. "He gave me permission to move out."

"WHAT?" Mike said, staring. "You're moving out? That's why everything has been so wacky?"

"I suppose."

"You can't do this," Mikey snapped. "Not you. Leo walked out on us for like ever and Raph, well, he's Raph. But not you. You… You… You can't do this"

"Why not?" Don asked, with the first spark of something behind his eyes that Mike had seen in weeks.

"Because," Mike yelled. "I don't know why… just not you… It'd…" He paused for a minute. "It'd hurt too much."

" It already hurts too much," Don said, climbing back in his bed. "Listen, the last person in the whole world I'd ever hurt is you. But I did, I almost blasted your whole right arm off."

"But it's fine," Mike said, showing him the healing skin.

"But you were unconscious for three days Mikey. Three days. I thought I killed you."

"But I'm fine," Mike said.

"But I'm not," Don said, leaping off his bed and pacing the room. "You were unconscious, you didn't seem like you'd get better. I thought I killed you. Do you know what that feels like, to think you've killed your own brother? And not only my brother, but you? Not only did I kill my brother, I also killed my best friend."

"For a genius, you're acting pretty stupid."

Don just stared at him.

"I'm not dead," Mike waved both hands in front of his face. "As for the others, of course they like you. You are their brother."

"That doesn't mean they like me."

"But they do."

"You should have seen them," Don said stopping his pacing long enough to stare at him. "Splinter, Leo and Raph right after it happened. They were so pissed, I don't remember the last time I've seen Splinter that mad. Not that I blame them exactly, I was pretty angry myself, but I…we… just all sort of snapped. We were at each other's throats. Splinter confided me to my room, and the last time he had done that, I had stay there for a month. Then Raph and Leo destroyed the living room. The only thing we could agree on – okay, Leo doesn't agree which is why he's being so nice– is that Raph and I move out."

"Raph too?" Mikey yelled. "Why, why are you doing this? Why are you breaking our family apart? It was your idea, I know it."

Don turned his back on him and headed back to his bed. He sat down, leaned his shell up against the wall and put his head on his knees.

Mike walked over and shook his brother's knee. "Why, Donny? Why?"

When Don lifted his face, Mike was surprised. Don didn't always say much, but every emotion was written into his face. But when they made eye contact, Don looked blank, numb.

Mike stepped back and studied for a minute. Then he heard anxious footsteps behind him.

"Guys," Leo said breathless from the door. "Casey is in trouble. Our robot friends are back."

Without a word, Mike and Don followed him from the room.

* * *

"Where's Raph?" Mike asked as they ran through the ankle deep water.

"He's already on his way," Leo said.

Leo gesturing them up and they made their way into a dark street. They ducked in an alley and darted behind a building. Then with a dash, they jumped onto a fire escape, pulling themselves up to the second floor. Mikey turned and grabbed Don and helped heave the rest of the way.

They raced to the top, and then jumped from rooftop to rooftop. They pulled up short at the same alley where they had been attacked before.

"This is monotonous," Don said as he pulled up to the edge.

Raph and Casey were surrounded by another ten robotic warriors. Raph was standing the middle holding them off as Casey half-heartedly swung his hockey stick around.

"This feels different," Leo said.

"That's 'cause Casey's hurt," Mikey said. "Let's go."

"No," Leo said, putting his hand on his arm. "Don? What's different?"

Don studied the scene. "The robots are different. They're taller. And it's a different style of fighting."

"Okay… Mikey take the left, I'll go right. Donny, get in behind Raph. Get Casey out of there. Then meet us back here, or back at the liar, but stay at the fringes. I don't want them singling you out. Give us fifty."

"Right."

"Go," Leo whispered. As his brothers descended to the dark street, Don took a running leap and landed on the next building. He watched for a count of fifty and then scaled the wall downward in the blackness. He used his broken arm, and it didn't hurt, although it couldn't do much of anything else either. He made it to the second story and then dropped from a ledge, silently behind Raph and Casey.

Casey was bad, much worse than Don had thought when watching from above. Casey's eyes were almost swollen shut. His left arm hung limply from his shoulder, and his movements were jerky. Don made a hand signal to his brother, out of the corner of the eye, he saw Raph nod.

He grabbed the hockey stick out of Casey's arm, tossed it aside, threw him over his good shoulder and then disappeared around the corner.

* * *

Raph spared a second to watch as Don took Casey away. Then, once defending Casey was no longer his responsibly, he waded into the middle of alley. He kicked and punched at everything that came into his circle. He fought furiously. And yet, nothing was happening. He connected every shot. Every punch hit a robot, in the chest, in the legs, the arms. But there was no damage.

That pissed him off. His fury gave him new strength. He targeted one robot and slashed at it with his sais. The blade cut deep into the metal. But the robot slowly stepped closer to him. It sent a slow punch at him which he dodged. But it still forced him backward. He was getting dangerously close to a wall.

Mike's body flew through the air behind him. Apparently the battle wasn't going well for any of them.

* * *

Mikey hit the ground with a soft whoosh. That hurt, he thought as he rolled to his feet. He sprang back into battle, putting himself back to back with Leo.

"Uh, Leo," Mike said as he kicked a robot dead center in the chest. The kick backed it up about three inches.

"Yeah." Leo said, slicing off the forearm of the robot standing nearest to him.

"Is it just me, or do these dudes not seem to be taking the hint?"

"What hint?" Leo asked as he kicked another one.

"That we're suppose to win," Mike said, as the robot grabbed him stiffly by the arms and pitched him again.

* * *

Leo saw his brother land on his shell out of the corner of his eye. The one he was facing had no arms left so it couldn't pull that trick. But none of the other moves Leo used did anything. Finally, Leo spun and swung his sword around, severing the neck of his armless opponent.

Or at least that was what was supposed to happen. His katana got stuck in the neck of the robot. Leo tugged on it. He finally resorted to putting his foot on the chest of the metal creature and pulling with all of his strength. Just as he pulled it out, another of the robots grabbed him by the shell and threw him in a heap not far from Raph.

Raph was cornered between three robots and a dumpster. He was holding his own, but for how long? Casey was out of danger, which was the entire reason for the mission.

"Go, in five," Leo yelled over the clanking metal.

Leo took five quick breaths and then launched six smoke pellets into the middle of the alley. Two minutes later, the trio regrouped on the roof of the nearest building.

"Everyone okay?" Leo asked, giving them each a quick look over.

"Yeah," Mike answered, although he was rubbing his forearm.

Raph just nodded, and then he growled. "Those ain't the same robots we fought last time."

"No, they're not." Leo agreed. He pulled out his cell, opened it and said, "Don, where are you?"

"I'm right here," a voice called just behind them. Don appeared over the edge of the building and jogged over to them.

"How's Casey?" Raph asked.

Don shrugged. "I didn't assess his injuries. I found an ambulance five blocks up on 53rd street. I put him in the back and then signaled to the driver to take off."

Raph gave a nod.

"What changed?" Leo asked.

Raph shrugged.

Mikey said, "I don't remember anything about fighting them the first time."

Leo looked at Don. "Think about it, Donny," Leo ordered. "What changed?"

With a sigh, Don closed his eyes. He brought up mental pictures from both battles. He compared them in his head.

Don spoke slowly, keeping his eyes closed. "These robots are taller. They aren't as shiny as the old ones. That probably means they're made out of another material… or that the old ones were covered with a new material. Their fighting style was different too. The first time was more like street fighting, now there was some marital arts influence. Kung Fu maybe."

Leo shook his head, "It was Karate."

Don shrugged. "You'd know better than I would."

"Anything else?" Leo asked.

Don shook his head, but then said, "Well…"

"What?"

"It's not something I saw. It's something I don't get. With the amount of technology that they're packing, why didn't they just shoot us?"

Leo studied his Don's eyes. That was a good question. It left an uneasy pit in his stomach. "You mean, why didn't they just kill us outright?"

Don nodded as Mikey's expression turned surprised and Raph's incredulous.

"They were kicking our shell," Raph said. "You should have seen what they were doing to Casey."

Don nodded, "I know. But we were outnumbered and nothing we did affected them. We were clearly outmatched. But they didn't press the advantage. And they didn't hurt us."

"Speak for yourself," Mikey said, rubbing his forearm.

"You know what I mean," Don said.

"Yes, I do," Leo agreed. "And I don't like it. I don't like it one bit."


	6. Chapter 6

A week later, Mikey shuffled around the liar. He paused to look at Don's lab, which still looked like a wreck even though the genius himself had left He walked to Raph's room, which looked just empty. Like his heart.

Mike felt angry, and jealous, and a thousand other things all at once. For the moment, the worst feeling was loneliness. So he found Leo, reading in his bedroom. Leo looked up when he knocked.

"Hey Mikey. Are you okay?" Leo asked.

Mikey didn't answer. He was anything but okay. It was a stupid question. Leo set his book aside.

"Why don't you come in?" Leo suggested.

Mike did, sitting down on a chair across from Leo's bed. "Do you know that part of this that sucks the worst?" Mike asked.

"What?" Leo asked.

"I'm the one who always gets left behind."

Leo's mouth dropped open, but he didn't answer.

"So what gives? Why is it, that the one turtle who can get along with everyone, the one who hasn't hurt anyone, the one turtle in this family that is the nicest, always gets shit on?" Mikey felt marginally better as he saw the shocked expression on Leo's face. But Leo recovered fast.

"I don't like it either," Leo said, sighing.

"Yeah, but you left like for two years. You didn't care so much then."

"That's not fair," Leo said. "It wasn't that simple."

"Neither is this. If Donny had to go, it should have been me who went with him. He needs me."

"He's needs all of us. We all need each other."

"No, you don't understand. Donny needs me. He's messed up right now. He hasn't worked in his lab in almost a month. And he and me… well, I'm the only one he'll talk too.."

"I know. That's part of the problem," Leo said

Mike's face flushed with rage. Problem? The fact that Don was close to him was a problem?

Leo must have caught the look, because he quickly amended, "According to Splinter anyway." Leo said raising up his hands in surrender.

"So this is the solution? Breaking up the family?"

"I don't think we're breaking up the family. I'm not saying I like it. But I think I get what Splinter is doing. Don and Raph are not close, but they're a lot a like."

"How?" Mike asked, incredulous. "They're like fire and water."

"That's a good analogy, actually. Let me ask you this… Can you get burned by water?"

"No," Mike said.

"You know better than that," Leo said. "Remember about five years ago, when you left the cover on a pot too long, you opened it and…"

"Yeah, I got burned," Mikey said, staring at the scar on his hand. "But if you're saying that Donatello is acting like that your dead wrong. He looked numb, not angry."

"Why is he numb?"

"I don't know. That what I've been trying to find out."

"I think I know."

Mike's stomach burned, Leo couldn't know anything, unless... "What did you do, hack his into computer and read his journal?"

"No, but I think I know him well enough to guess. Imagine you're blaming yourself for hurting your brother. Then image your father and other brothers are angry with you about it. But none of it was really your fault. How would you feel?"

"I don't know, guilty maybe?"

"Yeah guilty, but I'd bet angry too. And probably scared that another one of his gadgets will malfunction. And fairly useless because of his broken arm."

Mike thought about it a minute. It made his head spin, but it sounded right, somehow.

"So let's talk coping mechanisms…" Leo continued. "I meditate or practice. Raph beats in the head of the nearest street punks, and you play practical jokes, or skateboard or play video games. Don works. He builds stuff, fixes stuff."

"Which he hasn't been doing."

"Right, so he's stuck. He can't work through it. It's eating him and he can't get rid of it."

"If you know all this, why haven't you talked to him about it."

"I've tried a couple of times, but he's still too angry with me."

"But me…"

"Exactly."

* * *

Mike boarded through the sewers, heading toward the West Place, as Raph had dubbed it. It was a stupid name. Their new place was actually North of the liar. When Raph entered the room for the first time, it was filled with cowboy memorabilia. There were boxes upon boxes of hats, boots, belt buckles, and raw hide skins. Hence, the west place.

It was about a fifteen minute walk, which meant it took Mike less than ten on his skateboard. He had to admit it was a good spot. It was better hidden than the lair itself.

The door was damn near invisible. Mike had been there twice and still it took him ten minutes to find it. It's only distinguishing features were the hinges that popped out on the sewer wall. But even those were easy to overlook. The hinges were not standard door hinges. They were metal cylinders two and half feet long. They were covered in algae and they oozed something slimy.

The door handle itself was a rectangular hole in the wall, also covered in algae. It was the last place on earth anyone would want to stick their hand.

But Mike did, putting two of his fingers in and heaving the metal back. He slipped inside and the door fell shut behind him with a creak and whoosh of air.

The west place was smaller than the regular lair. It was roughly rectangular. The main room was over eighty feet long, but it wasn't quite twelve feet wide. Raph and Don had put in a makeshift kitchen on one end (a mini refrigerator, a microwave, and a table) and put a TV (a much nicer one than at the lair) and a couple of chairs on the other.

Four rooms connected to the main one. One was a bathroom, which as a bonus, was already hooked up with city water and it had a shower. Don had figured the men who worked down here must have wanted to clean up before they went home.

The other three rooms were just rooms. One obviously was an office of some kind, so Don had claimed it for his lab. The other two they changed into sleeping quarters. Don's room had a set of bunk beds and Raph's had his hammock.

When Mike walked in, Don was sitting at the kitchen table studying the parts of something which were spread all over the table.

"Hey, Mikey," Don said, looking up. "What brings you this way?"

He had a lot time to come for the answer to that question, which he knew would be the first out of either of his brothers' mouths. But he still didn't have an answer.

He just shrugged.

Don put down his screwdriver, "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"So yes meaning no?"

Mikey shook his head. "No, I'm fine. What's that?'

"It's a heater," Don said looking down at the tumble of pieces. "As much as I trust Raph, I don't want the place to go up in smoke or die of carbon monoxide asphyxiation."

"So you're working?"

"Yeah," Don said looking up meeting his eyes, which gave Mike more insight than the words. Don was working because he felt like he had too. He didn't like it and he was nervous.

"Where's Raph anyway?"

Don shrugged, "Off being Raph." He picked up a piece of the table and studied it.

Just then, the door creaked and then closed with a whoosh.

"Speaking of Raph," Mike said, turning to the door. Then he paled.

Don jumped to his feet and helped Raph stagger into a chair. He was a mess of blood. It dripped from his arm and leg and fell to the ground. There was a huge cut in Raph's arm that extended from his shoulder to his elbow. There was dagger sticking out of his thigh.

Don turned from him and raced into his bedroom, returning a moment later with bed sheets. He tore the cloth in half and then tore it again.

Mike was fingering the knife embedded in Raph's leg. He just about to pull it out when Don stopped him.

"Don't! Leave that there," Don said, pitching the rest of sheet to him. He wound the torn parts around the cut on Raph's arm.

"What?"

"You pull that out, he may bleed to death. I'll pull it out when we get home."

As they hoisted up Raph, who was half passed out, Mike realized that Don still thought the lair was home.

* * *

Don and Mike dropped Raph into a bed in the infirmary. Don washed his hands and grabbed his medical needles. Raph had passed out and Don kept it that way, with a shot of sedative. He started a pint of blood when Leo rushed in.

"What happened?" Leo asked.

"Jumped by the robots," Don said as he studied the knife in Raph's leg.

"That looks… awful," Leo commented turning from the dagger to Mikey. "Did he give any details."

"Yeah. The robots were pushing around a kid, and Raph stepped in to help," Mike told him. "The kid got away, but the robot took it out on him instead."

Leo shook his head, "How bad is it?"

Don packed off the knife in his brother's leg and had started to unwrap the rolls of cloth on Raph's arm. "Let me see."

Don looked it over, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "This one is deep. It's going to need a lot of stitches." He tossed the makeshift bandage aside and grabbed the thread and needle.

"Aren't you going to take care of the dagger first?" Leo asked.

"No," Don said and he punched his needle into the exposed muscle of his brother's arm. It took so many stitches that Don lost count after about 30. He pulled the last bit of skin together and stitched it down. He got clean bandages and wrapped the arm well.

He stared at the knife sticking out of his brother's leg for a couple of minutes in silence.

"What is the problem?" Leo asked.

"Just trying to gage," Don said. "Mikey, get another pint of blood and have it ready. Leo get bandages and pack it off as fast as you can once I get the knife out." Once they were in place, he said, "Here's hoping."

Don took a shuddering breath. He felt blind panic as he oozed the knife out of his brother's leg. Don dropped it on the floor and then helped Leo pack off the wound. It gushed like a geyser. Don grabbed his needle and tried to stitch the wound closed. He realized he would never be able to do it fast enough.

Swearing to himself, he found the blood vessel on Raph's upper leg. He pushed down with all of his strength. Slowly the wound stopped gushing.

"Mikey," Don said.

"Yeah."

"Do you see what I'm doing? I need you to do this while I close him up. Otherwise he'll bleed to death before I can get it done."

Mike looked a bit pale, but he nodded. It took a little meddling but eventually Mikey's fingers stopped the flow of blood into his brother's leg.

Don pulled off the bandages stitched as fast as he had ever done, putting muscles back together, rehooking a couple of small arteries. He did all of it while constantly watching his watch.

He gave two more big stitches. "Okay, Mikey, let it go."

"But you're not done," Leo protested.

"We have to get the blood flowing. I don't want him to lose his leg. Do it Mike."

Mike let go and a pool of blood starting oozing up around Don's fingers. "Not so bad," Don breathed. He put the rest it of back together and packed it off.

He dropped down in the chair, picked up the knife from the floor and threw it at the wall. It stuck in.

"Okay, that sucked," Mike said, flexing his fingers.

Don shrugged.

"What are those things?" Mike asked. "And why do we keep running in to them?"

Don shrugged again.

"I suppose it's about time we figured that out. Before one of us gets killed." Leo said. "I'll call April and see if she knows anything. Let me know if you need me." Leo said as he left the room.

"Can you feel your fingers yet?" Don asked Mikey as he got up checked Raph's pulse. It was strong and steady.

"No," Mike said.

"It will just take a few more minutes and the tingling will be gone. Better than Raph bleeding to death. But I hate doing that. If you cut off the blood supply too long, it can cause tissue damage, meaning gangrene, meaning Raph loses his leg, or foot…"

Master Splinter walked into the room, looking weary, and concerned. "Is Raphael hurt my sons?"

"Yes sensei," Mikey said. "He was attacked by one of those robots."

"Is he out of danger?" the old rat asked, his eyes flicking to Don.

"I think so, sensei," Don replied with a half shrug. "I've done all I can."

"Which is considerable," he agreed. "Michelangelo, would you please leave us? I would like to speak to Donatello."

Don gave Mikey a longing look, begging him with his eyes to stay. But Mikey raised his eye ridge, shrugged, and left.

"Please sit." Splinter commanded gently. And so Don did, taking one of the chairs.

Splinter walked over and took Don's left arm in his own. He gently felt it up and down, along the break. "You have stopped wearing the sling."

Don shrugged, "It… um… stopped hurting, and I was scaling a wall, and I kinda needed it."

"It still needs more time to heal, as does the rest of you." Splinter said. He took some bandages and rewrapped it for him. "What is the extent of your brother's injuries?"

So Don told him as his father re-immobilized his arm.

"Then what troubles you, my son?"

"I did the best I could," Don said, lowering his head, "But those cuts were deep. They might not heal right. He could have permanent damage. Which for anyone else, probably wouldn't be a problem, but for Raph… it could be deadly."

"It is not your fault."

"But it is. If I were a better surgeon, I would know how to do it and it wouldn't even be an issue. And what if I cut off the blood supply to his leg too long? It could cause tissue damage."

"You did the best you could."

"But it's never enough." Don said, finally meeting his father's eyes.

"It always should have been," Splinter said. "You can never be anything more than what you are. It was a mistake for me to try to force you to be otherwise."

Don dropped his head and rubbed his forehead with his right hand. His father wrapped another bandage around his left arm. "I've always wanted to please you."

"If you want to please me, fix the television. My neck is sore from looking sideways. But pleasing me is not important. You need to find a way to live in your own skin, my son. Find a way to live with your mistakes, with your limitations, and with the displeasure of your brothers. Find a way to live with your father's anger."

Don raised his eyes to his fathers. They locked together for several moments as Splinter tied a last bandage around Don's neck as a sling. He saw anger there, but he saw love too, and understanding. Don felt his warm hand on his head.

"The world is as it is. Raphael will heal or he will not. It is out of your hands now. I will sit with him, my son. Clean yourself, eat, and rest. Consider that an order."

* * *

Leo found Donny and Mikey sitting in the kitchen eating. They both had showered. Mikey was pouring a bowl of cereal for Don who looked like a mummy with his arm wrapped from his shoulder to his fingertips in white gauze.

"What," Leo said, raising his eye ridge, "Did you get attacked by the bandage fairy?"

"Very funny," Don said. "Master Splinter rewrapped it. He thinks it needs more time to heal."

"He's usually right," Mikey said, setting the bowl down in front of Don. "He told you to eat and go to bed too."

"How do you know that?" Don asked and he fumbled with his spoon one handed.

"He told me to make sure you did it," Mike said smiling.

"Before you go to bed," Leo said, sitting down. "I found out a few things from April."

"What?" Mike asked between bites of cereal.

"These robots are all over the city. There have been hundreds of reports of them. Not many injuries related to them as of yet, but the city officials are nervous. They don't know what they are or why they're here."

"So no one knows anything?" Don asked.

"Seems that way," Leo replied, finding that hard pit in his stomach again. "Would you do me a favor Donny?"

"What?"

"Would you stay here tonight?"

"Why?"

Leo paused, he didn't want to mess this up. There were a hundred reasons he wanted Don to stay, including he didn't want Don all alone, to Raph might need him in the night. But it came down to one simple reason. "I've just have a really bad feeling, and I think we should all be together. Just in case."

Don studied him, his intense eyes holding Leo's gaze. "Okay," he agreed. "Mind if I crash with you Mikey?"

"Sure dude. But you have to go to bed now, because if you don't, Splinter isn't going to let me get take out for a whole month."

"Oh, come on, just one game of Mario Cart?"

"Mario Cart.. or pizza… Sorry Dude."


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: I finally got my cannon figured out... This is a movie fic, based on the the first three movies, with elements from the 4th... Five chapters left... stick with me. _

* * *

Leo grabbed him by the arms, annoyed, "Would you just lay down? Come on Raph, please."

Raph struggled against the arms, "I'm getting up, now, Leo. You ain't going to keep me here."

In a flash of green, a needle poked the struggling Raph in the bicep. "No, but I am," Don said.

Raph eyes raged at his younger brother, but the sediative took immediate effect. Raph stopped struggling in Leo's arms. Leo sighed, relieved as Raph eye's rolled back into his head and he fell peacefully back onto the bed.

"I owe you one," Leo said, rubbing his sore biceps.

"No, he owes me one. He doesn't want me to redo those stitches." Don said, rubbing his eyes. "God what time is it?"

"Not quite one," Leo said. Then seeing Don's tired, relaxed face he said. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

"For what, I wasn't asleep? I heard you in here struggling with him and I knew…"

"No," Leo said bowing his head his brother's direction. "I'm sorry I blamed you for what happened to Mike. It wasn't your fault."

The relaxed look faded from Don's face, replaced by a tense, angry one. "But it was my fault. Nothing you can say changes that."

"Remember a couple years back, when we were sneaking into the purple dragon's headquarters? You got a gash in the leg." Leo said, watching his face carefully.

"How could I forget?" Don said, fingering the scar.

"Was that my fault?" Leo asked.

"What?"

"Just answer the question. Was it my fault that you got hurt that night?"

"No, it was mine. He surprised me and he got inside my guard before I could defend myself."

"But you were surprised because you were trying to hack their computer system at the time. That was my mistake. I didn't give you cover. You paid for my mistake. So is it my fault that you got hurt?"

"No. I knew what I was doing."

"So did Mikey," Leo said.

"But he didn't," Don said.

"He knew what he was doing, the risk he was taking, when he asked for that gun. It's the same thing, different brother, different decision, same outcome. I blamed myself too. But instead of wallowing in pity, I learned. I never made that mistake again. When you have to focus on something else beside the fight, I have someone cover you."

"Is that what you think? That I'm wallowing in self-pity?" Don's hands had clenched into fists.

"Yes, I do," Leo said, happy to see that his speech had the impact he hoped. Don was getting angry.

"You don't understand anything." Don said, turning away.

Leo grabbed him by his good arm and turned him around. "I don't understand? Me? I've been responsible for your safety for years. You think I don't feel guilty when something happens? You think I like pushing you and Mikey into training when you clearly don't want too, and Mikey could care less? How do you think it feels being responsible for Raph?"

Don stared at him and his lips were pressed into a rigid line. Don had reached his breaking point, Leo knew it. One more push…

"How do you think it feels being responsible for you?"

"You aren't responsible for me," Don yelled at him. "You never have been."

Leo smiled. "And you aren't responsible for Mikey. You never have been."

They locked eyes for a full minute. Finally Don broke the look and stalked off.

* * *

Who did Leo think he was? Don thought as he headed back upstairs. It wasn't the same thing. Each of them knew the risks every time they walked into battle. And Leo was the most qualified to call the shots, but that didn't mean he was responsible for anything that happened.

Don's inventions were his. He was responsible for them. Both the good and the bad. Wasn't he?

He walked into his old room and stared at the bed that wasn't there. He turned around and saw Mike standing the doorway.

"You're not going to get much sleep there," Mike commented.

"You know," Don said, his anger at Leo still fresh "this is why I moved out. I can't getting a deep breath in this place without someone in my face."

Mike shrugged, "I'll stay out of your face, if you'd stay out of mine."

Don was shocked, "What do you mean?"

"What would you do if I was acting like you are right now? Would you leave me alone?"

Don just sighed.

"Come on," Mike said walking over and putting his arm around his neck. He marched Don back to his own room and pushed him to the bed. "Get some sleep Donny."

The sleep that Don got, with Mike curled up next to him, was short lived. Leo shook them both awake less than an hour later.

"Guys," Leo said sharply, "April's in trouble."

"What's the matter," Mike asked, jumping to his feet.

"Robots," Leo said.

Don mumbled some swear words while rubbing his face. "Can this get any worse?"

Mike hit him on the back of the head, "You never, ever say that dude."

* * *

Worse turned out to be the understatement of the year. As they ran to the April's shop and apartment, where she sold her antiques, Mike asked, "So who's Raph gonna pound the most tomorrow for handcuffing him to the infirmary bed?"

"You," both Leo and Don said in unison. "It was your idea."

They leaped to the top of building across the street from April's warehouse and Leo immediately beckoned them to get down. Mike and Don dropped to rolls and knelt next to their older brother. They peered over the edge of the building, crouching behind the lip of the building.

Don let out low whistle. The building was surrounded by the robot monsters. A sentry guard was posted at every window and door. Six guards were on the roof walking in a perfect circle, each 60 degrees away from the next one. It was almost hypnotizing to watch. Their steps where completely in synch, their arms moved the exact same way.

Leo looked back at his brothers. He studied Don for a moment and then drew one katana. "Don't move," he whispered to his brother. With four efficient strokes he cut the sling and gauze off his younger brother's arm.

"What's the plan?" Don asked, pulling off the rest of the gauze and flexing his wrist.

"The far side of the building has a door, but no windows. That's our best way in," Leo said.

"But what's our goal here?" Don asked. "Are we just getting April out, or are we going to try and protect her building."

"Both," Leo said. "April's – and probably Casey's – safety are the first concern. We slip in and get them out. But I think this is trap for us. So we need to give them what they want."

"What?" both Don and Mike said at the same time.

"We need to draw them away from the building. Mike and I are the fastest, so Don, it will be your responsibility to get April and Casey to safety. Then disappear. I don't care where you go, just make sure you vanish completely, and don't go anywhere near the lair. Mike, once April and Casey are clear, head North. Make sure they are following you for at least ten minutes, and then vanish. I'll head south. We'll rendezvous on the south side of central park, by the fountain two hours after leaving the building. That should give us enough time to lose them."

"That's really close to dawn." Don said.

"Okay, one hour," Leo amended. "Let's go."

They backtracked two blocks and made a wide circle of the building. The dropped back to the ground and snuck to the far side of the building. As Leo had predicted, there was only one guard. Leo motioned Mike to go right and Don to go left. Then slowly the crept to the guardian.

With a barely audible command, they attacked as one. Leo cut off the arms in one swipe. Mike planted a kick in the center of its chest knocked it toward Don, who swept it off it's feet. Don leapt over top, studying it, and pulled a small knife out of his belt. He kicked at the head, prying the neck away from the shoulders and then shoved the knife into the gap he made. He pulled up hard the and lights behind the robot's eyes faded. Then he pointed at Mike to grab the feet. They moved the robot and hid it behind a dumpster. Leo tossed the arms on top.

They jogged over to the door. Don picked the lock, and they snuck in, each ducking a different direction in the shadowy office. It was deserted. Leo cautiously walked to the door, peeked out and then beckoned his brothers forward. Leo pointed a direction for each of them and Don scuttled though, headed left, followed by Mike who headed right. Then Leo came out and ducked into the shadows in the center of the room. They swept the main shop, ducking in and out of April's antiques. They met along the front wall of the store. Nothing. The room was empty.

Leo pointed up and they both nodded. They headed back toward the office and to the stairs. Leo indicated that he would head up first. Mike and Don nodded. Leo quietly paced up the stairs. The door was slightly ajar. Just enough for Leo to peek through. He waved for them to follow him. Don and Mike padded up and as soon as Don placed his hand on his brother shell, Leo kicked the door in.

They burst through, Leo center, Don to the right, and Mike to the left. The first thing Leo found was his friends. April was tied to a chair. Casey was unconscious on the couch. The next thing Leo saw was five robots all turning toward them. They were the same robots as before, only one was holding…

"Gun. Scatter." Leo commanded. He hit the dirt as a projectile flew over his head and lodged in the wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mike and Don roll off to either side.

Leo flipped into the center of the room. "Donny, go," he yelled as he landed in a crouch. The shot aimed at him went over his head again, hitting the robot behind him. It wasn't a bullet, it was a hypodermic needle.

A blur of green darted to Casey on the couch and then headed back to the steps. The shot followed him, but Leo heard him pounding down the stairs and knew that Don was safe. Leo grabbed his blades and cut off the arms of the robot in front and behind him. But another came in from the side and with a flash of silver a knife caught him in the shoulder.

"Ahh," Leo yelped in pain. He glanced at it. The blade was stuck fast. He rolled over to where Mikey was fighting. He got his shell to Mikey's back and asked. "You okay,"

"Never better," Mike said, as the robot grabbed his foot before he could land the kick. He rotated and jumped, kicking the robot in the face with his other foot. The robot dropped his foot and Mike clattered to the floor.

Leo ducked down next to him as another needle whipped through the air. All five robots were approaching and worse, from the fire escape, Leo saw the robots from the roof climbing in the window. His left arm began to sting and burn. He wouldn't be able to fight well, much less outdistance robots in a race.

Don returned to the apartment, sans Casey, and looked horrified to see Leo and Mikey on the floor surrounded. "Hey, ugly," Don said waving his arms at the robots.

"Don't! Get her and go," Leo yelled. He spun on his shell and knocked the legs out of from underneath the two robots closest to him.

But the robot with the gun trained on Don. It fired several rapid shots. Don ducked, rolled, and then flipped up and behind April, cutting her bonds just as the first of the robots made it in the window behind him.

April ran out of the room and descended the steps. Don came after the robot that had Mikey pinned. He used his bo like a lever and flipping him across the room. Then Don pulled Mike back to his feet. But Mike stumbled and Don caught him before he fell again to the floor.

"Leo," Don said, to his back, as Leo sliced off more hands of the robots, the only thing he had been able to do.

"Yeah, go. I'm right behind you."

Don pulled Mikey over his shell and raced out of the room, followed by several of the needles.

Leo faced the room again, now alone. Eleven robot warriors where in the room. Four had no hands, one was crashed on the floor across the room. But the other six were closing in on him, step by step. Leo ducked as a needle came flying at him. He looked around and ran straight at one of the robots. He threw his arms into the ground in front of it, pushed off, landed on the its head, and leaped toward the door. But he wasn't fast enough. He felt the needle prick the back of his leg as he landed, and he fell forward, rolling down the steps, as the blackness closed in around him.

He staggered up, as his vision became more grainy, until all he could see was flickering lights. He managed to make it another few steps, until he saw a green shape and collapsed into his arms.

Don swore under his breath. He pulled the needle out of his brother's leg, and pocketed it. Then he drug Leo to the back door, where he had a pile of injured family and friends.

Don took stock. He had less than a minute before they were overrun by creatures they couldn't fight. Casey and Leo were unconscious. Mikey's left ankle was either broken or sprained. Leaving only he and April able bodied. Two people, three bodies to haul. Not good.

He set Leo down, and took out his phone. Flipping it to April, he said, "Call 911 and follow me."

Don pulled Casey up and ran headlong into the busy street. April followed. Don dropped Casey as gently as possible in the shadows in the alley. April was reporting the break-in and that she needed an ambulance, Don left them, prayed a silent prayer and then darted back through traffic to his brothers.

Mike had heaved Leo back further away from the door, but the robot were making their way out. Don sprinted back to Mikey, just as several more needles flew their way. They both ducked.

Don pulled Leo up, cradling him like an infant, and then said, "Grab a hold of my back and hold on tight."

"This isn't going to work," Mike said as he hopped toward him . "Take Leo and get out of here, I'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving you here," Don said. "They want us alive. If they take us, they're going to take us together."

"That's stupid," Mike said, but he grabbed onto his brother's back. "If you let me get captured, then the three of you can find me. If they take all of us, then we're all screwed."

"No. Not an option." Don said. He broke into a staggering run, faster than he expected he could. Mike's weight on his back countered Leo's on his front. He made it four blocks before he collapsed under the weight. He chanced a look back. They were a block behind, marching stoically toward them. He counted, he got at least 10. That was good, hopefully they all had followed them, and left April and Casey alone.

Don picked himself up, adjusted Leo onto his shoulders and grabbed Mike's shoulder with his bad arm, which protested under the strain, sending pain down to his fingertips again.

"Come on," Don urged and he and Mikey hop/ran for another two blocks. Then another needle shot past, nearly hitting Mikey in the face.

"We could really use Raph right about now," Mikey said.

"Yeah," Don grunted, under the weight.

"Wait a second, I have an idea." Mike bounced off his good leg and somersaulted down the alley.

"Nice," Don said, picking up into a run with just Leo. They made it another couple of blocks before Mike got dizzy and Don dropped down on his knees beside him.

"Okay," Don said, panting hard. "Remind me of this the next time I want to blow off practice."

Mike peaked around the corner. "They're still coming. They're going to get us. It's just a matter of time. Let them take me. You get home."

"No. Look," Don said, shifting Leo around again and starting to walk toward the far corner of the alley. "We don't know who they are or what they want. I wouldn't know where to begin looking for you."

"I trust you," Mike said, smiling.

Don felt anger surge up in his gut. "Look, I appreciate the sentiment, but the answer is still no. We stick together."

"You can't stop me, Donny." Mike said and he made to move back toward the oncoming robots.

Donny slammed him up against the wall, Leo still on his shoulder, fear in his eyes. "Don't Mikey. Listen, you have no idea what they could do to you. I'm not letting you face a fate worse than death."

"Better one than three! I'll cover for you. Get away, then find me."

"No," Donny pulled on him to follow, but Mike easily broke away.

"See you bro," Mike said as he hopped away.

"No!" Don yelled, but before he could follow, someone shoved Don to the ground. He fell heavily onto his broken arm, which shot pain from his shoulder to his finger tips again "What the hell?"

Don looked up to see Raph grab Mike by the arm. Raph threw Mike over his shoulder and headed back to Don.

"You ever do that to me again, and you're dead," Raph shot at Donny as he pulled him up. "Let's move."

Relief flooded through Don as they sprinted down the back alleys. They stuck to the shadows and continued to run for twenty minutes until they couldn't see the robots anymore.

"Raph," Don panted, "I can't keep this up."

"You need to get your butt in shape," Raph said. But he put Mikey down and grabbed Leo from Don. "I think we've outdistanced them. Let's get home."

They reached the lair an half an hour later. For the last half of the journey, Don wasn't sure who was helping who stand. Was he keeping Mike up, or was Mike keeping him up? When they reached the lair, Don fell on the sofa and Mike on the chair. Raph passed through to the infirmary with the still out Leo on his shoulder. Splinter rushed out.

"My sons, are you okay?"

They both nodded. "Leo is still out cold," Mike said.

Splinter rushed passed them and headed into the infirmary. Raph came out a moment later. He walked to Don and extended a hand. "Come on brain boy, you've got some stitching to do."

Don sighed let Raph pull him up. "Someone needs to check with April to make sure she and Casey are okay."

"You don't know?" Raph said, anger flaring. "That was the whole point. What did you do, leave them there?"

"More or less," Don said. "Mikey would you call them?"

Raph pulled Mike into a standing position and helped him over to Don. "I'll do it. If they're hurt…"

"It's not his fault," Mike said, leaning on Don. "Don got them away, and then had to come back to get me and Leo. If he hadn't Leo and I would have been captured."

Raph seemed to digest that, the scowl lessened anyway. He stalked off to his room.

"Come on, Mikey," Don said and helped him into the infirmary.

Leo was lying on the bed, looking as untroubled and peaceful as a baby. Splinter was hovering over him, checking his head. Don helped Mike limp to the bed. Splinter look of concern went to Mikey and he helped his son get comfortable.

"Why is Leonardo unconscious?" Splinter asked.

Don pulled out the needle and handed it to his master. "He was drugged."

"Do we know what the drug is?" Splinter asked.

"No." Don said, wearily. "What do you want me to do first, figure out the drug, take out the knife, or check Mikey's ankle?"

Splinter stared at him for a moment. "Do you think Leonardo's life is in danger from this drug?"

"No. His pulse is strong and his breathing is normal. I got the feeling that they were trying to capture us, not kill us."

"Yeah," Mike agreed. "They just tried to pin us down and get us with one of the needles."

"Then, my son, take out the knife out of Leo's arm. I will see to Michelangelo."

Raph came in a few minutes later. "They're okay. Casey's back in the hospital. Took another shot to the head, doctors are nervous. There is no damage to the building, but as soon as Casey is better, they're heading to farm."

"I don't suppose we can go too?" Mike asked, with a squeak of pain as Splinter rotated his ankle.

"I'm all for that," Don agreed, gathering the materials he needed to take another blade out of another brother for the second time that night. "Raph, I'm going to need a hand."

It took an hour to stitch Leo up, and then Don headed to his lab to research the drug in Leo's system. It took hours, but he got it figured out around lunchtime. He emerged from his lab with the results. Mike and Raph were both sprawled on the couch, sound asleep. Mike's iced ankle – sprained, not broken – was sitting in Raph's lap, whose stitches had held shut. Don dropped down in the chair next to them.

Raph opened his eyes, "What did you find out?"

"Valium," Don said.

"What?"

"They hit Leo with Valium."

"Which means what?"

"He'll sleep like a baby and wake up feeling better than any of us."

Raph's eyes dropped shut. "That I get."

"How are you feeling?" Don asked.

But Raph didn't answer. He was already asleep. Don wasn't far behind.


	8. Chapter 8

_thanks to Ozlek... who has become my Beta Reader. _

* * *

Leo woke in the infirmary with a slight headache, a sore shoulder and no sign of anyone else around. Sitting up, he checked himself over. Twenty neat black stitches ran down his shoulder. They were Donny's work, but where was he? Usually when someone was hurt, the others were in the Infirmary waiting for them to wake up. Especially Don.

Leo pulled himself up and walked into the main room. His brothers were sound asleep in the living room. Mikey was zonked on the couch, his wrapped ankle on Raph's lap. Raph was pale, he was sprawled out like he had fallen asleep watching a movie. Don was sleeping in the chair, his head tilted too far back to be comfortable.

Looking over his slumbering siblings, Leo decided that Don looked the least beat up. Leo shook his leg, but all that achieved was muffled grunt. Leo tried again, "Hey, Don. Donny?"

Don cracked open his eyes. It took longer then Leo thought was possible. When Don finally got them fixed on him, they were bleary and bloodshot.

"Hey," he said sitting up gingerly. "How are you feeling?"

Leo shrugged, which was a mistake. Pain flared across his shoulder. But he was able to conceal it. "Not bad. Thanks for stitching me up."

Don nodded and yawned. He arranged himself into a more comfortable position and closed his eyes again.

"Is everyone okay?" Leo asked quietly, glancing over at his other brothers sprawled on the couch.

Without opening his eyes, Don said, "More or less."

Leo gave him a rougher shake. "Tell me what happened."

Don opened his eyes and gave Leo an exasperated look. Don stood up and stretched again. But he winced noticeably and started rubbing his arm, the one that had been broken.

Leo sighed. Knowing Don, he was probably hurt and hadn't done anything about it. He wished that his brothers would understand how important their health was. They seemed to take it for granted. Don especially. But it didn't help when he reinforced the message, by cutting the bandages off. He sighed in frustration. Another mistake in his behavior that he'd have to correct.

"Let's talk somewhere else. They both need rest," Don said nodding over to Raph and Mikey.

You're one to talk, Leo thought as he led them into the infirmary. He gestured for Don to sit down. Wordlessly, Leo ran his hands up and down Don's arm.

Shaking his head, Leo sighed, "It's been fractured again."

"I thought so," Don said, smiling grimly. "The bones weren't out of place though, so I figured I'd deal with it later."

"When was this later going to be?" Leo asked.

"When I could keep my eyes open," Don yawned, proving his point by shutting them again. He let his head drop to the back of the chair.

"So tell me what happened?" Leo asked as he grabbed a few braces and ace bandages from the cabinet. Placing a couple of rods along the break line on Dons arm he wrapped it as tightly as he could with the bandages.

Don, with his eyes closed, explained everything from when Leo passed out. When he got to the part about Raph showing up, Leo stopped wrapping.

"How did he get out of the handcuffs?" Leo asked, incredulous.

"I don't know and I don't care. Call it divine intervention, call it luck, call it whatever you want, but if Raph hadn't shown up when he did, either Mikey would have been captured, or all three of us would have been. We shaved it way too close."

"How are the others?"

"Well… Mike has a sprained ankle, nothing is broken, but it might be a torn ligament. Unless we take him in and get an MRI done, there is no way to know. He can't walk on it, much less fight with it. He'll be okay eventually, but for the next few weeks, he's not moving very fast."

"Raph?" Leo asked.

Donny sighed, "The same as he was. He lost a lot of blood and those cuts are deep. He's going to be weak for awhile"

Looking at his brother closely, Leo asked, "What about you?"

"Well there's the broken arm and..."

"What?"

"I'm exhausted," Don admitted as Leo stood up again and finished wrapping the bandage around his forearm.

Leo frowned in concern. He grabbed a sling and fitting Don's arm into it. After the night they just had, anyone would be exhausted. But this was Don, the night owl who lived on the four hours of sleep a night. Studying Donny's face Leo had to admit he looked awful. There were circles under his eyes, his shoulders were sagging and his face was flushed. What worried Leo most was the fact that he admitted he was tired at all.

"What's wrong?" Leo demanded. If Don admitted one thing then there had to be more.

Don sighed before saying, "I'm coming down with something." He opened his eyes partway and added, "the chills started earlier this morning."

Leo put his hand to his brother's forehead and sure enough, he was much too warm.

"Is it anything serious?" Leo asked feeling his chest clench.

"I doubt it. It's probably just the run of the mill cold. Bad timing though."

"You're telling me," Leo said. "Out of the four of us, we have enough pieces to make a half a healthy turtle. This definitely does not bode well."

"No, it doesn't," Don agreed. He got up from his chair and made it as far as the other infirmary bed before collapsing in a heap.

Leo covered him up with a blanket. Shoving guilt aside, he said, "I hate to ask this."

"Just because you ask, doesn't mean I'll answer," Don said softly, his head burrowed in the pillow and his eyes shut.

Leo continued gently as if he were talking to a child, "The only thing that has ever worked against these robots was that weapon you used the first time we fought them."

"You mean the one that almost killed Mikey?" Don asked, opening his eyes a fraction.

"Yeah, that one. I don't suppose you have another?"

"No, it was a prototype."

"Can you make another?"

Don didn't answer. His eyes were closed again and after a minute passed, Leo wasn't sure if he was still awake.

"Donny?" he asked softly just to make sure.

"Yes, I can," he said with his eyes still closed. "But can I sleep for awhile Leo… Please?"

"Sure little buddy," Leo said, using his old nickname for Mikey. It somehow seemed right at that moment.

Truly, they all were the same age. But it always seemed like he was the oldest, and Mikey was the youngest. In his head, he had always pegged Raph as being older than Don, mostly because he felt more competitive with Raph. Like if he didn't push himself, Raph would get ahead. But Don didn't compete with anyone. Or if he were competing, it was on a whole different level.

But when things were tough, Don was the one Leo turned too, like he was the second oldest. Don had great ideas and could, if pressed, take charge of a situation. Don with a broken arm wasn't a whole lot different than Don without one. He was still the weakest fighter, the one that either Leo or Raph kept an eye on. With or without a broken arm, he was still a rock and could think them out of anything. Don sick, not well enough to think, was a serious problem. As bad, if not worse than Mike not being able to walk.

Leo grabbed another blanket and threw it over Don. Trying not to disturb him, Leo placed the back of his hand on Don's forehead. Don didn't flinch.

Sighing in relief, Leo noted that he was warm, but not too warm. With any luck, Don make wake up feeling a lot better.

Once in the living room again, Leo's optimism dropped to the gutter. They didn't have any luck. Raph looked like hell and Mike couldn't walk. If they were attacked or if Casey and April were targeted again… Leo shuddered at the thought.

Five hours later the situation looked, if anything, worse Leo thought desperately. Mike had gotten up and was hobbling around the kitchen, making dinner on crutches. Anytime Mike put weight on his foot, he yelped in pain. Raph had stolen Mikey's vacated spot on the couch and was still asleep, just as pale as before.

Leo had been forced to pull Don out of bed after only letting him sleep for an hour. Don begged him with his eyes to let him sleep, but Leo had insisted. He felt horrible about it, but something was wrong. He could feel it. Danger was approaching and they had no way to fight this new enemy without Don's help. Just when he had talked himself into believing that Don's suffering was for the greater good, a deep throaty cough issued from the lab. Then Leo wondered if he was in fact too paranoid.

Suddenly a blaring noise filled the lair "WAAH, WAAH, WAAH…"

"Five more minutes, huh?" Raph muttered rolling over and hugging his pillow tightly.

"Intruder alarm?" Leo said, jumping to his feet and jogging into Don's lab. "What's going on?"

"Hang on," Don said, as he brought a camera on line. A picture of the sewer came up. A line of robots were marching straight towards the lair. Once again they were in synch, steps exactly the same, arms moving in sway with each other.

"Oh, no," Leo whispered.

Don silenced the alarm but a few seconds later another went off causing Don to swear as he killed it. Fiddling with the equipment, Don brought another picture showing a line of robots approaching the lair, this time from a different direction.

"This is bad," Don said sighing. Bringing all the cameras online a third group was seen marching through yet another sewer tunnel. "Okay, this is really bad."

"Can you see how many there are?" Leo asked as Mike hobbled into the room, followed closely by Splinter.

"It's over thirty," Don said, "Maybe more."

"We are so dead," Mikey said.

"We must leave this place, immediately my sons," Splinter said.

"But Sensei we can't. They're covering all the exits," Don said. "There is no way out."

"Don, do you have that weapon ready?" Leo asked.

"Not quite," Don answered, grabbing it from the desk and quickly connecting some exposed wires.

"How much time do you need?"

"Two days. But I can probably get something working in say twenty minutes."

"It looks like you have about five." Leo said. "Mike, cover him as best you can. The rest of us will buy you time."

"How?" Raph asked.

"I'm sure we'll think of something," Leo said as he headed toward the door which was soon to be filled with unstoppable robots.

"Sure we will," Raph growled.

* * *

The sound of metallic clanking grew closer and closer as Leo, Raph, and Splinter faced the door. Finally it stopped. Everything went deathly quiet. The only sound came from Donny's lab, and the swearing was growing more creative by the minute. At least Don was getting his twenty minutes Leo thought wryly. Raph kept exchanging nervous looks with Leo as the tension grew to breaking point.

"HOW YOU DOING DON?" Raph yelled suddenly, causing Leo to jump and train his Katana on Raph.

"Raph," Leo growled, turning back to the door, only to jump for a second time when, Mike called back, "ALMOST DONE."

The silence in the lair was broken by an almost imperceptible clicking from the door. All three ninja backed up a few steps. Without warning, the door came flew completely off its hinges and fell several feet away with a loud bang.

Two robots stood the breadth of the door, completely blocking it. Countless others were lined in neat rows behind them stretching off into the sewers from three different tunnels. They began their march in with slow steps, making sure that two were in the door at all times.

Just as the second pair breached the lair Don sprinted into the room with a gun in his good hand. He skidded to a stop behind his family.

"You got it done?" Raph asked.

"More or less," Don shrugged.

"What does that mean?" Raph asked.

Leo thought he knew, but to maintain hope, he banished that thought. He needed to be in the moment; clear, focused. He regained his calm.

Until Don said, "You'll see."

Leo groaned inwardly, his calm façade draining away. "Give it to Raph," he ordered, "Then you and Mikey and get down where we can cover you."

"Not happening," Don said, "The only turtle touching this thing is me."

"Translation," Mike said, limping in behind the rest. "It's going to blow up."

"Yep," Don agreed.

Before Leo could digest this next piece of bad news, the robots at the door dropped to their knees. Behind them stood, four more robots holding tranquilizer guns.

"SCATTER," Leo commanded as he dove to the right. Raph dove left, Mike drop rolled behind the couch and Splinter back flipped behind his favorite armchair.

Don jumped and spun out of the way raising his gun to point at the robots in the process. As he fired, electricity shot up his arm painfully but the pulse found its target.

There was only one problem though…nothing happened. Don dropped to the ground in a roll and fired again… nothing. They weren't stopping and they definitely weren't dropping. The robots continued to file into the room. They formed a semicircle around the door now the robot shooters still protected by their guards.

"Don?" Leo shouted.

Don didn't answer; he studied his invention like it was a misbehaving child. Jumping, he flipped behind the couch, narrowly missing another round of needles and almost landing on top of Mikey. He looked at the device in his hands and racked his brain for answers. Why wasn't it working? What changed?

"Don!" Leo shouted, frustrated.

"I'm working on it," he yelled back.

Leo's gut leapt into his throat as Raph let out a bellow and charged the line at the door. He managed to get in two pointless punches and one stab with his Sai before a dart caught him in the neck. Raph dropped like he was made of stone. A robot made to grab him, but found its hands gone as Katana whizzed through the air.

Splinter darted through the hail of tranquilizers, reached Raph and pulled him out of the way.

"Donny," Leo yelled as he leaped across the room to retrieve his blade.

"It's not working. These new models have some kind of shielding. The pulse can't get through…. Wait a second." Don fiddled with the settings and jacked up the power. He ducked up from behind the needle laden couch, and took a preliminary shot. The two robots he had targeted slumped to the side. He dodged some more flying tranqs before taking another shot and another and another.

"Leo," Don yelled as he took another robot down, "This won't last long. They're going to wake up. You need to disable them…quickly"

"How?" Leo called as he darted in behind their one and only couch just in time to miss another round of shots.

"Cut the cables in their necks. It should put them down for good."

"Okay," Leo said, wondering how he was supposed that when the last time he tried and got his Katana stuck.

Don took down every robot that came through the door. Unfortunately the effects of his first shots were already wearing off as a couple of the fallen robots stood up to join the fight. Don shot off another round the now awake robots, his aim gradually becoming worse.

"Can't you shoot?" Mikey asked as Don's last shot hit the wall above the door.

"I can't feel my arm any more," Don replied, using his broke arm to guide his other. "Side effect."

"Just great," Leo mumbled, darting in and out of the robots, trying to disable as many as he could. Just as he stuck his katana blade into the neck of one, it unfroze. Grabbing Leo by the arms, the thing sent him flying across the room and straight into a wall.

A whine began to emanate from the gun. "We're running out of time," Don yelled. "Mikey are you ready?"

"Affirmative bro." Mickey called back giving his brother a thumbs up in reply.

"What?" Leo questioned as he picked himself off the floor.

"We have a plan. Get Raph," Don ordered as he continued to shoot and  
dodge.

Bewildered Leo joined Splinter, Mikey and the unconscious Raph, behind the  
couch. Mikey helped heave Raph onto Leo's back.

The gun's whine had grown in volume and intensity as Don focused the shots toward the robots on the right. The gun began to feel hot in his hand. Which was saying something considering his whole arm was numb.

"Now Mikey!" he called over his shoulder.

Mikey burst forward, jumping on top of Don's shell. At the same time as Don threw his gun, Mikey pitched ten smoke bombs into the crowd.

"Take that you metal morons." Mikey yelled.

"Follow me," Don yelled. He darted through make shift the path he had made, Mike hanging on to his back for dear life. Mike threw another handful of smoke bombs ahead of them as the rounded the corner allowing Don to use his Bo to knock over as many robots as he could without them seeing him coming. When the pair was almost to the corner the gun exploded, sending all the turtles as well as Master Splinter staggering forward.

Don turned to check that Splinter and Leo were behind him and picked as much speed as possible with Mikey on his back.

There was only one place to head now, the only safe place he could think of…the new lair.

When he started to take the second turn, he stopped at Leo's call.

"What?" Don asked, turning to look at his older brother.

"We can't go there yet," Leo said.

"Why not?" Don asked, setting Mikey back down on his own feet. Mike slipped his crutches back under his arms.

"How did they find us in the first place?"

Don's face fell. "Right, good point. I should have thought of that"

"Huh?" Mike asked, looking between them.

"Unless they followed us home last night," Leo began.

"Which is doubtful, but possible," Donny added.

"Then one of us is carrying a transmitter," Leo finished.

"So what do we do?" Mike asked. "We can't stay here. And we have to keep moving. They're following us."

"Well, Master Splinter is fine," Don said, "and most likely me, since they didn't lay a hand on me at April's. It's probably…" Don drifted off staring at Leo's leg.

"What?" Mike asked.

Leo and Don exchanged a long look. Leo sighed and set Raph carefully on the  
ground.

"I'm sorry about this bro," Don said, holding out his hand as Leo placed one his blades in it. Don knelt down on the floor next to Leo, and found the spot where he had been drugged. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be…"

Don sliced the welted bruise on Leo's leg where he had been hit by the tranquilizer dart. After he had made a two inch cut, he grabbed the flesh on either side and pushed.

"Hey, watch it," Leo said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry Leo…. Ok, I've got it," Don said, handing a small cylinder of metal to Leo that was smaller than a pill.

Don unwrapped part of the bandages immobilizing his arm, cut off a section, and wrapped it around Leo's leg. Standing back up, he looked over at his unconscious brother.

"You have to do it," Leo sighed wearily.

"I know…I'm just glad he's still asleep," Donny said.

As often as he had wanted to wring Raph's neck, he never thought he'd be actually slicing into it. A slight amount of pressure was all it took for blood to gush out. The transmitter wasn't deep. Don handed it over to Leo before wrapping Raph's neck with some more bandages from his arm.

"Now what?" Mike inquired.

"I'll take these and put them somewhere away from here… far away," Leo said.

"You don't need to go too far," Don said. "You just need to put them somewhere where they'd be hard put to find us. Like the junkyard, or the dump. Somewhere where it'd take forever for them to figure out we weren't actually there."

"Yeah, good idea," Leo agreed. "Can you get everyone else back?"

Don looked uncomfortable, but he nodded. "Keep your shell cell on, okay."

"Yes, be careful Leonardo," Splinter said.

Leo nodded before disappearing into the shadows of the sewer.

Don sighed as he heaved Raph onto his good shoulder. Splinter put a steadying arm under Mikey, and the group hobbled as quickly as they could to safety.


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: Once again, another huge thank you to Ozlex, the beta reader extraordinaire...  
_

* * *

When Don saw Leo slip through the door, he jumped up, letting out a huge sigh of relief. As Leo sat down at the table in the kitchen, Don bolted the door from the inside and joined them.

"It is done master," Leo said, respectively bowing his head toward Splinter.

"Thank you my son," Splinter replied. "Your brother Donatello and I have been discussing our current situation. It is quite grave."

"Yeah," Mikey groaned from across the room, where he sat with his foot up watching TV. "First problem is we don't have any food."

Leo gave Don a look, "There isn't any food?"

Don shrugged, "Not enough anyway. It was just me and Raph and all we had was a microwave. We have lots of noodles, some coffee and..."

Mike cut him off, "No milk, no pizza, no ice cream, no eggs, no nothing. Not even enough to cook anything... Trust me, I checked."

Don laid his head down on his arms at the table. "Look, it wasn't like Raph and I were expecting house guests, much less everyone to move in. We spent all of three days here. We still aren't set up yet."

"Guys, we have bigger problems to worry about, like who exactly we're fighting? That's the more important question" Leo said, making a fist and taking what the brother's called his 'power stance'.

"You mean who is kicking our tails?" Mikey called.

"Would you just get over here?" Leo yelled, exasperated.

"My foot hurts," Mikey complained, gesturing at it.

"Mikey…." Leo glared back. "Please?"

Mike, grumbling, hobbled over to the table and then gave Leo a stare. "So…Where am I supposed to sit fearless?"

Leo was about to reply, when Don stood up, looking beyond annoyed, and gestured with his good arm to his chair. Then he slowly climbed on top of the tiny refrigerator.

"So who exactly are we fighting?" Leo asked again.

"Robots," Mike said, stating the obvious.

"Right," Leo conceded. "And they were sent by whom? For what purpose?" He turned to look at Don, who shrugged.

"Yes, Leonardo," Splinter said. "Those are the most important questions, but I do not know where we will find answers. Our enemy is hidden, elusive."

"But we have too. Our survival depends on it." Leo asked.

"Our survival depends on living in the shadows," Splinter said. "That has not changed."

"But it has," Mike said. "We can't stick our noses out without being attacked. And what are we going to eat?" Mike asked. "A shadow can't get food."

"Mikey!" Leo said, reproachfully.

"No, Leonardo, Michelangelo has a point." Splinter said. "We have some major obstacles to overcome."

"Okay, so where do we find our answers," Leo asked.

"Don't you get it? Nowhere. There are no answers. There's nowhere to even look." Don said, sounding both uncharacteristically angry and utterly exhausted.

Leo gave him a puzzled look that instantly tuned into concern. Don's face was pinched and he was flushed. He was also holding his right hand in his left as if it hurt. "What's wrong with your hand?"

Don leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes before answering softly. "Burned."

Leo stood up and took his brother's hand into his own, noticing that the flesh was red and inflamed. Then for good measure he checked Don's forehead. It was almost as hot as his hand.. His whole body was on fire. Leo swore, "Can anything else go wrong?"

"Never, EVER say that," Mike said. "The answer is always yes."

Splinter rose and crossed to Don placing his furred hand on Don's forehead. "My son," he said sadly. "You must rest."

Don nodded and got down off the refrigerator. As his feet hit the floor, he started to cough so violently that if Leo hadn't been standing there, would have fallen to his knees.

Between Splinter and Leo, they laid Don down in the bottom bunk bed in his room. "Get some rest, little buddy," Leo said

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Don asked as Splinter left to get more blankets.

"Why did you get Mikey his own bed for over here?" Leo answered giving Don a knowing look.

They locked eyes for a minute before Don started to shiver and cough, breaking eye contact with a groan.

When Don didn't reply, Leo answered for him. "Same reason, only I have three little brothers. But seriously, I can't do this without you Don. You have to get better."

Not only did Don not get better, the situation grew steadily worse. The lack of food was bad enough. In the middle of the first night, Leo woke from his spot on the floor next to Don's bed. He wasn't sure what woke him at first, but then he saw Mike crawl down from his bed above into Don's bed below. Leo sat up and as the blanket dropped away, he realized how cold it was. He started to shiver.

Leo placed a hand on Mike's shoulder to let him know he was there, "Come on Mikey, you can't sleep with him. You'll get sick."

"Dude, its freezing. I'm going to get sick anyway," Mike whispered. "At least he's warm."

Leo sighed and let Mike climb in not admitting he was being selfish. With Mikey out of the top bunk, it gave him a place to sleep. The second problem was that they didn't have enough beds for everyone. Leo was camping out on Don's bedroom floor, and Splinter was trying to sleep in a chair. The third and newest problem faced by the turtles was apparently the lack of heat. Leo was finding this the most annoying problem as he lay shivering under his blanket.

The first and most important problem was the food shortage. They had enough to last maybe two days. And that was only if everyone would actually eat plain noodles for three meals straight though. Leo doubted it. Mikey was already complaining after one meal and Raph wouldn't be much better when he finally woke up.

The biggest problem was the identity and motive of their attackers. It wasn't until sometime the next afternoon that Mike, of all people, came up with an answer

"Hey guys," he yelled excitedly from the living room. "Come look at this."

Raph, Leo and Splinter made their way to the living room where Mike was watching television. A news broadcast showed a picture of one of their robot foes.

"… These robots appear to be the property of a man with the self styled name of Lord Lim. Lim is believed to be a native of Hong Kong, but has been operating in Jakarta for the last fifteen years as a drug and crime lord. His robotic warriors have been implicated in numerous crimes in New York, including theft, arson, and assault. They also appear to have been the cause to what residents believed was a minor earthquake. Citizens on the lower west side reported an earthquake yesterday, which authorities found was caused by an explosion in the sewer system."

A picture of their lair that came up. It was almost unrecognizable because it was entirely trashed. The couch was flipped over, the kitchen was completely blackened, and Don's lab looked like a junk yard. Leo was actually glad Donny was still asleep, so he wouldn't have to see the damage.

From behind them, Leo heard a mournful sigh followed by a deep cough and knew his brother wasn't so lucky. He turned and saw Don leaning against the door jamb looking like he had just lost his first pet.

"The explosion didn't cause any appreciable damage to any surrounding buildings, but we have to wonder why Lord Lim planned this senseless attack. A warrant is currently out for Lord Lim, who remains at large…

"That settles it," Raph said. "We ain't going back there."

"No," Splinter replied sadly. "This is our new home."

Don made a muffled grunt from the back of the room surveying the small space around him.

The newscaster continued her report, "As of yet, officials have not been able to disable or recover a robot. They feel that if a robot could be recovered it might provide valuable clues to the puzzle. If anyone has located a disabled robot, or has anyone other information, please contact the police officials..."

"So, who's going call the cops, dudes?" Mike asked, turning to look at them all.

"What? Call the cops… you've got to be kidding?" Raph said. "We don't have no information."

"Donny, Leo, and I stashed a robot behind the dumpster at April's building. I'd bet anything it's still there."

Leo's eye ridge raised as he nodded. "Yeah, we did."

Turning to look at Don still standing in the doorway, what he saw almost made him stop his question. Don was pale, his teeth were chattering, and he looked seconds away from passing out.

Asking anyway, Leo said "Do you want it…Or should we turn it over to the police?"

"The police ain't going to do anything that will help us," Raph growled, "Even if they go after this guy, they can't stop him. Not like we can."

"Raph does make a good point." Mike snickered, "Only happens once a year, but still valid."

Raph threw the nearest object he could at his little brother. Unfortunately it happened to be his sai. The three pronged dagger embedded itself in the cushion behind Mikey's head, narrowly missing his forehead by inches.

"Watch it," Mikey yelped. "I can't fight, I have a broken leg."

"Raphael," Splinter said sharply.

"Sorry sensei," Raph said, "and your leg ain't broken, moron."

"Like you would know, shell head," Mike shot back.

"Yeah, but Master Splinter says it's not, and so does Don, so shut up."

"So Don, do you want it or not?" Leo asked, turning away from them to look back at his other brother. Don wasn't in the doorway. Leo called his name, "Donny," Walking over to the door, Leo spotted his brother lying back in bed.

"You okay?" Leo asked, kneeling down next to the bed. Once again, Leo put his hand to his brother's forehead. It was as automatic as it was worthless. He knew Don was sick, he knew he would have a fever. He also knew there was nothing he could do about it. He hated that helpless feeling. He hated actually being helpless even more. Feeling his brother's head qualified as doing something, worthless, but something. Even though Leo knew what he would find, it still surprised him how hot Don was.

"My chest hurts. It makes it hard to breathe." Don said, tapping his chest. There was more there. Leo could tell by the tone of Don's voice and the look in his eyes.

"And?"

"I probably have pneumonia," Don said.

Leo knew he should know what Don was talking about, but he didn't. Splinter or Don always covered those areas. Whatever it was it sounded bad and he needed to know. "And that means what exactly?"

The voice who answered him was not his brother, but his father. "It means that your brother is very ill," Splinter said, appearing behind him and then helping Don sit up. He handed him a steaming cup of tea. "It has happened before, when he was a youngling. The dampness creeps into his chest, making fire there."

"What do we do?" Mike asked, standing by the door with Raph.

"Donatello must rest," Splinter said placing a comforting hand on his Don's shoulder.

"But then who is going to fix the heater?" Mike asked.

Raph, Leo and Splinter turned to him as one and glared.

"What?" Mike replied, the injustice clear in his voice.

"I got him for you Master Splinter." Raph said. He grabbed one of Mike's crutches and then the back of his bandanna. He pulled Mike out of the room by his head and his crutch. Mike protested loudly, but was forced to hop after him on his good foot. After they were out of the room, there was a heavy crash and Mike gave a yelp.

"I'll do it," Don said wearily attempting to get out of bed.

"No," Leo said automatically. "You rest we'll… figure something out. Maybe Raph can figure out how to put the heater back together. I mean doesn't he help you with the shell cycle every now and then?"

"No," Don protested. "Too much can go wrong. It could start on fire, or could let off poisonous gases."

"We will start a fire. It is what we did in the old days." Splinter answered. "Rest my son."

When Splinter and Leo left the room, Mike and Raph were wrestling on the living room floor. Rather one sided on Raph's part, but since he wasn't hurting Mikey, Leo didn't say anything.

"So should we recover the robot or not master?" Leo asked.

"Yes, my son. We also need food and supplies, and a metal barrel to burn garbage for heat. Tonight, you and Raphael, if he is feeling up to it, must go out. The barrel is the most important."

"That will also be the hardest to find. We can get food and recover the robot easily," Leo said thoughtfully.

"Leonardo, heat is our most important concern. Your brother's condition is far worse than he would have you know," Splinter said, looking sad. "When you were very young and this affliction struck your brother, it almost took his life. He never fully recovered and it returned, each winter for several years. It has not plagued him for nearly ten years. Its return now is frightening. It means your brother is as weak now as he was when he was child."

"But why? How did this happen?" Leo asked, turning to glance back at Don who had slumped back down into the bed, the half empty cup sitting on the floor next to him.

"I believe the answer lies in his head and his heart. When the mind is in turmoil, when the heart hurts, the body is weakened."

"What do we do?" Leo asked, ducking as a wildly thrown can shot just over his head.

"Keep him warm, help his body fight. As for the rest, if we can help him face his troubles we will. That is if he will let us in."

"Maybe Mikey?" Leo replied, not sure exactly what he was suggesting.

"No, Raphael," Splinter answered.

Leo gave him an odd look.

Splinter continued, "Michelangelo cannot help your brother find something he does not have. Nor can you. Only Raphael can help him."

Leo was puzzled, but he bowed to his Masters judgment and went over to break up the fight.

* * *

When Don woke up, he was burning up. It was so hot that he had to get away from his bed. He didn't know the time, but it must be late because Mike was snuggled up against him again. Don threw the blankets back over his youngest brother and then walked out into the main room. Raph was sitting in one of the living room chairs, watching the TV muted, with the captioning on.

"Hey," Raph greeted his brother quietly. "You feeling all right?"

"About the same," Don said, dropping down in the other chair. The short walk tired him out. He coughed, a deep cough which made his chest hurt. "Where is everyone?"

"Splinter and Leo went to look for supplies. They left me here to guard you two invalids."

"Not because you almost bled to death two days ago?" Don asked raising his eye ridges.

"That had nothing to do with it."

Don sighed before saying with laced humor, "The funny thing is that I actually think you believe that."

"I do. And you should too." Raph growled.

"Come on," Don said, with a half laugh that turned into a cough. "They probably fed you some line to get you to stay. It must have been good too."

"For your information geek boy, Splinter said he wanted me to talk to you if you woke up. That was why they wanted me to stay."

"He wanted you to talk to me? What about?" Don asked, another hacking cough causing him to stop for a minute. In a hoarse voice he continued. "Have we ever even talked about anything other than cars?"

"We've talked about ways to get back at Leo when he's being a prick and we've figured out ways to take out Mikey."

"Yeah," Don agreed. "I suppose."

"Now we have a new one."

"What?"

"Splinter told me that I have to help you deal with your demons."

"You can't even deal with your own," Don said irritably. "Isn't that… I don't know… a bit hypocritical?"

"I can't deal? Who's the one coughing up a lung here?"

Don coughed again, causing the sore spot in his chest to burn.

"My point exactly," Raph continued. "You have demons and it's eating you up. Why else would you be this sick?"

"I don't have demons," Don said, rubbing his chest. Damn that hurt.

"Everyone has demons. Yours are different than mine, but you still have them."

"Like what," Don asked as curious as he was angry. Who the hell did Raph think he was? He and Don never talked, and Raph blew Don off as much as Don blew Raph off. They got along, but they weren't close. How could Raph know his demons? Besides, he didn't have any demons.

"Oh, you're pretty mad at Master Splinter. And if you aren't, you should be."

"What?" Don asked, turning to look at him in the flickering light of the television. Of all the things that Raph could have hit on, that one was totally off base. "Why should I be mad at our father?"

"Because you and me got the raw end of the deal. Leo and Mikey have always been his favorites. He tries to hide it, but we both know it. You and me are too much trouble compared to those two. Well at least you used to be, until you started pretending to be Leo junior. Let's face it though, if there is one thing you're not, it's Leo."

"What do you mean; I'm pretending to be Leo?"

Raph snorted, "Think back. You used to pull the best stunts like… Remember when we were ten and we got Leo stuck to the roof of the lair."

Don chuckled, remembering Leo caught in a block and tackle harness suspended two inches from the ceiling. He and Raph had left him there for over an hour until Splinter was due back. By that point Don wouldn't risk getting Splinter mad at him again, but Raph had agreed to take the heat for it. Leo had been particularly annoying that day.

Raph went on, "At some point, you stopped being you. And we ain't never got you back, Donny. The brother I used to hang with… Not Leo junior. I miss the one who has fun. The guy that sometimes comes out when it's just you and me working in the shop."

Don's gut twisted. Raph had hit home after all. He tried to suppress another cough which only resulted in it becoming a painfully drawn out event.

"So," Raph continued when his brother could breathe again, "What happened to you?"

"I conformed to social norms," Don sighed, his head dropping.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that if I didn't start acting more responsible, Splinter was going to throw me out."

"He wouldn't have done that," Raph replied his anger gone as quickly as it had appeared. "I mean look at all the stuff I pulled."

"Yeah, but you were pulling kid stuff. The stuff that I pulled wasn't so childish. It's amazing I didn't kill myself before I turned ten. Do you remember all the times I went to the surface, alone, at night?"

"Yeah, that was awesome. That's the Donny that I'm talking about.

"It wasn't awesome. I could have been killed, or worse. Splinter caught me one night, and told me that if I didn't start acting more like Leo, he was going to throw me out."

"He said that?" Raph asked incredulously.

"Not only did he say it, he meant it. I was what…eight? Then he pulled the Spider Man line, 'To those gifted with great power, also comes great responsibility.' Do you really think that I enjoy learning all of this? Okay, a lot of it I do, but I mean, come on, what would be more fun, skateboarding with Mikey, or learning enough about water heaters to put one back together. Or how about learning about plumbing, do you realize how crappy that is, literally? One mess up and you're covered in…"

"I get it." Raph answered. "But it ain't the same now."

"How is it any different?"

"You're grown up. That makes all the difference."

"I would agree with you if we were sitting here by ourselves in our new place. If Mikey wasn't sleeping with me, and complaining about the lack of food. But we're still stuck with each other. It's a time warp. We can never leave and nothing ever changes." Don gave a long hacking cough that left him feeling exhausted.

"Just cause we're stuck here doesn't mean that nothing changes. It does. It always does. And now, you need to change."

Don coughed again, feeling like his chest was going to explode. "Why? Why do I need to change?"

"Because you can't be anything other than who you are. And trying to be someone you're not, the person that Splinter wants you to be, is killing you. Leo, Mikey and I be damned. You are Donatello. Be Donatello."

"That's why you've never bothered trying to get yourself under control," Don commented leaning his head back in the chair.

"I can't be anything else. It's who I am. I ain't changing, not for Leo, not for Mikey, not for you, and not ever for Splinter."

"Then why do I have to change? You just said, be who I am."

"I did. But to be the way you are supposed to be, you need to change back to who you were."

"The one that nearly got himself caught and dissected? The one that almost blew up the lair more time than I can count?"

"Yeah, him, the guy that invented stuff because he liked to do it. The one who can remember any fact from any book he's ever read. The one who didn't take life so seriously and occasionally, actually enjoyed it."

"You mean the one who patches you up every time you get into a fight. The one who has to have all the answers all the time. The one that everyone expects to fix everything all the time. That guy, God you wonder why he takes life so seriously?" Don angrily coughed again, and this time some mucus came up with it.

"Now we're talking," Raph said.

Don just looked at him, totally confused.

"Why doesn't that guy have someone else help him huh? Why does that guy seem to think he has to do it all himself."

"Because no one WILL help me," Don growled.

"That's because you're an obnoxious jerk," Raph shot back.

"Is that what you think?" Don asked, his hands clenching into fists, hot anger pouring through his chest.

"No. Not at all. Leo maybe, but not you." Raph admitted coolly, with a smile on his face. "What I think is that you care too much what we think."

Don stared at him. His anger dropped away like water leaking out of a sink.

"Now, I'm really confused," Don said shaking his head as if to clear it.

"It's simple. You care too much about what they think about you. You care too much what Splinter thinks and Mikey and Leo. Yet when it's just you and me, we just are. Not that you don't bug me every now and then, you do. But when Splinter said that we live together, that was fine. I respect you, and I know you respect me, end of story. I stay out of your business, you stay out of mine… That's respect. When we work on stuff, like my bike or the vehicles, you aren't the answer man, you're just Donny. What they think doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters," Don said. "They're my family, my father and brothers."

"Does my opinion matter?" Raph asked. "I'm your brother too."

That stopped Don. Quite frankly, the answer was no. He didn't care about Raph's opinion, but why?

Raph answered despite Don's silence, "The answer is no, because with me you just are. I don't place expectations on you so you don't worry so much. It's time you ignored the other's expectation and let the rest of them see the real you."

Don gave another long cough.

"Now, if Splinter asks, you and I talked. I did what he wanted me to do."

"Splinter wanted me to be totally confused huh?" Don asked.

"No, he just wants you back. They all do. Me, I just want to watch TV."

"Then why is the sound off?"

"Cause my brother is sick and needs his sleep."

Don shook his head, coughed again and headed back to his bed that he was apparently sharing with Mikey. Raph was such an oddity, a mix of compassion and disinterest. But he was right about one thing. Don didn't care what Raph thought about him, he never had. He did care what Splinter thought, and Leo and Mikey. It was Splinter's anger that hurt him the most after Mike had been injured.

Sitting down next to Mikey, Don realized he was cold again. As hard as he tried he couldn't to stop his brain from whirling with Raph's conversation. It didn't make sense, but it also did. He wasn't angry at Splinter or Leo, but then again, he was. Suddenly he started to shake violently and couldn't stop. He wondered if that's why Raph always lost control, because nothing made sense. Half asleep, Mike rolled over.

"Easy, Donny," Mike mumbled sleepily. "Lay down. You need rest."

Don didn't move though and continued to shake violently. Mike sat up next to him and Don felt Mike's cool hand on his forehead. Don began to cough, huge swelling coughs that wracked his entire body. When he stopped, his mouth was dry and faintly metallic tasting.

"Come, on Donny. Lie down. You need rest."

Don let Mike pull him down and then felt a hand rest against his shell when the coughing hit again. It was all Don could do not pass out as the coughs raged through his body.

He coughed off the side of the bed, trying to control it, but he couldn't. When it stopped, there was more of the metallic taste in his mouth. Another coughing fit took the air from his lungs and he buried his face into a pillow. When it finally stopped, he lifted his head. The pillow was covered in blood.

Mike, sitting behind him went pale. "Okay, this is bad… RAPH!"

* * *

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading this fic! I appreciate your readership. I hope you enjoy it. By my last estimation, I'm about 3 - 4 chapters from the end. Things just have to get a bit worse... And Mikey has to recover enough to fight... can't leave him out of the final battle.  
_

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Thanks again to Ozlex! _

* * *

Mike sat rubbing his brother's back as he coughed up more blood. Raph had brought them a bowl with water, towels and more tea for Don. There was nothing else they could do. Every so often, Raph would wipe up the blood off Don's face. He hacked and hacked, each one sounding worse than the next, until finally, Don just passed out.

Mike carefully laid him down on his side and covered with as many blankets as he could.

"Is he going to be okay?" Raph asked Mikey as he hobbled over to where he stood watching in the doorway.

Mike shrugged, looking terrified "I don't know. His fever's really high."

The main door opened and Leo lumbered in carrying a barrel. "Put it in Donatello's room my son." Splinter ordered as he gathered items to burn and put them on the table.

"How is he?" Leo grunted as Mike and Raph let him pass.

"Bad," Mike and Raph said together.

Splinter turned to them then hurried passed into the room kneeling down next to Don. Mike watched as Splinter felt his head, took his pulse, and listened to him breathe. "Leonardo, start a fire now, Raphael, bring in water, Michelangelo, sit your brother up."

"What's wrong," Raph asked worriedly.

"Your brother's illness is now at its most dangerous."

"Is he going to make it?" Mike asked quietly, as he hobbled over to the bed.

Splinter didn't answer; he kneeled next to his son and wiped his face with the towel that Raph had been using. Mike sighed as he moved to his brother's side and pulled his him into a sitting position.

"Now, lay him against you, so that he can still rest, but he is sitting up."

Mike rearranged himself so that he was sitting behind Don and Don was against his plastron like Splinter wanted. Leo returned with matches and a huge collection of newspapers. Throwing about a quarter of the paper in the barrel, he attempted to set them alight. After a few more attempts, the paper finally caught allowing Leo to throw some cardboard and a few pieces of discarded lumber into the flames. Within a few minutes the whole room grew noticeably warmer and was filled with a orange glow.

Raph returned to the sick room with a bucket of water. "Where do you want this?" he asked Splinter not entirely sure what he was supposed to be doing.

"Pour the water into a pot and place it over the fire, my son. We need steam," Splinter explained.

"A pot?" Raph asked, looking glum. "Of course ye'h need a pot. Leo, why don't you give me a hand?"

It took both Raph and Leo over ten minutes to get it worked out. There were no pots, so they ended up using a coffee can, after dumping all the coffee out. Don wasn't going to be happy about that one, but hopefully he'd be alive to be unhappy about it. Then they had to figure out how to suspend it. This took another twenty minutes until finally Raph punched holes in the top of the can, used some wire he found in Don's lab and rigged up a hanger. Using Donny's bo to hang the 'pot' from, they duct taped the pole to two book shelves after clearing away all the books. Once again Don was not going to be happy.

Raph retreated to the corner and Leo stood by the door once the task was complete. They silently watched while Master Splinter forced some kind of drink down Don's throat.

The moments strung together like a never ending nightmare. Don was semiconscious through the whole thing, his body thrashing, covered in a sheen of sweat. He mumbled incoherently as the room got warm, then hot. Eventually the water started to boil, causing the room to fill with steam. Mike tried to his best to hold his brother as his body was wracked with coughs and Splinter tried to force more tea down his throat.

Leo asked from the doorway, "Was it this bad when he was kid?"

Splinter shook his head sadly, "No I believe his life is in much greater peril this time around. Fight, my son." He ordered softly, gently toweling off the sweat on Don's face. "Fight."

From the looks of it though, Don was struggling. For awhile his coughs were sharp, painful and bloody, until the added heat and steam seemed to help. He started bringing up more mucus, though it was still tinged with blood. After an hour, he slumped in Mike's arms seemingly like he couldn't go on. His coughs became weaker and weaker and his breathing became more ragged.

"Come on," Mike urged in his ear. "Keep fighting, bro."

Unexpectedly Don replied his voice so quiet Mikey almost didn't hear him. "Mikey…I'm so tired," Don rasped.

Splinter placed his hand on his son's forehead. "Then rest my son, we will be here when you wake up."

Don gave an almost imperceptible nod, and fell limply into Mikey's plastron his head resting against his shoulder.

Leo asked from the door, "Is there anything more we can do, master?"

"I fear not," Splinter sighed regretfully.

* * *

A couple hours later, Mike was still holding Don while Leo sat crossed leg in front of the bed. Don's fever was still burning, and unless Mike was wrong, it had actually gone up. Then again it might be just the fact he was getting so hot.

"I don't know how much more of this he can take," Mike said, trying to sit up without disturbing his brother.

"I know what you mean," Leo said. "He's never been the strong one of the team."

"Yeah he is! You just haven't seen it." said a voice from the corner.

Mike turned to see Raph leaning against the wall.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked turning to face Raph.

"He's not a fighter, no." Raph explained, "He never has been. But is he a bad ninja?"

"No," Leo said, "I didn't say that. I was just saying he doesn't like to fight."

"Your right, he doesn't, and he's still one of the best ninja that I know. How can you pull that off and not be tough? He's not the fastest, not the strongest, not the stealthiest, and I can kick his shell, but still..."

"Don't… get… cocky… " Don whispered from his pillow.

"Donny," Leo and Mike said together, as Raph got up and joined them at his bedside. Mike rubbed his brother's shell, and Leo took a towel and wiped the sweat off his face. Don reached out a hand to Raph, who took it.

"As soon... as I... can breathe," Don whispered hoarsely, "you and me… rematch. Loser… has vehicle maintenance… duties for three months."

"Make it a year," Raph said. "Seeing as I'm stuck with you. I can't even move out without your tail following me around."

Don smiled and Raph returned it.

"Get some rest," Raph said. "If these two wackos give you too much trouble, I'll rough em up for you."

"They're cool," Don said tiredly, pain still obvious in his voice. Don grabbed Mike's hand with his other one. Letting go of Raph's hand, he grabbed Leo's wrist. "They just… worry too much."

"Ain't that the truth," Raph said with a chuckle. He sat back down in his corner. Don let go of each of his brother's hands before promptly falling back to sleep.

* * *

When Don woke, he wasn't sure how much time had passed. Mikey was still lying next to him, his arm over his shoulder. Leo's arm hung down from the bunk over head and Raph was curled up in the corner. Splinter sat in front of him, his eyes open and a sad expression on his face.

"My son," he said, stroking his head.

"Master Splinter," Don whispered in a hoarse voice before coughing again.

"Raph and I talked."

"And?" Splinter asked curiously.

"Why?"

It was a simple question, partially because he could hardly talk and partially because there could be so many answers to the question. Which one would Splinter chose to answer? Don thought before he started to hack again.

"I never meant to hurt you, my son. I did not mean to break your spirit. I just wanted to keep you and your brothers safe and well. To keep you safe was a challenge beyond my skills as a father. It was the only way I could cope." Splinter's voice was as sad as Don had ever heard it.

"But what… about now?" Don croaked.

"The sky is the limit for you, my son. Your judgment is excellent and I will not stand in your way."

Don rasped. "I'm sorry… I was… so much… trouble.."

"It is I who is sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for, my son. He stroked Don's face. "But you are still ill, and you need rest."

Don nodded before he closed his eyes and was out like a light once again.

* * *

A few hours later, as Splinter was meditating in the living room he heard Leo's panicked voice from Don's bedroom, "Master Splinter."

Splinter dashed into the room where his sons were all keeping vigil. The room was now blessedly warm, almost too warm. Even his healthy sons shone with sweat. Looking to his stricken son Splinter noticed Don wasn't awake, but he was thrashing and moaning. Mike held him as best he could, but it was like holding a fish out of water. Leo and Raph were sitting next him, watching tensely.

"The moment has come," Splinter said. He sat down next to his sons. "Michelangelo, let him go. This part he needs to do on his own."

Mike nodded, and scooted out from behind his brother. Splinter watched as his son fought for his life, his body shivering. Eventually after about a half hour of this, the thrashing grew weaker until Don rested quietly on the bed.

"Donny?" Mike cried out from his spot next to Leo silent tears streaming down his face. Leo put a hand on his arm.

"What?" Don whispered, from the bed, his eyes still closed, "… did you break?"

A small grin spread across Mike's face and quickly spread to his brothers. Splinter put his hand to his sons face. Thankfully he had cooled greatly. "Donatello," he whispered in relief. "Rest now, my son. Rest."

* * *

A week passed and Don slowly regained his health. One morning Leo woke up from his bed over Mike and Don to find Mike sound asleep sprawled over the bed and Don nowhere to be seen. Leo hopped down and quietly padded through their home.

Don was in his lab, crouched in front of the robot that he and Raph had recovered a few nights back. Don coughed again, but he stared at the robot intently, like he expected it to jump to life.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked. "You should be resting."

"You worry too much," Don said, not looking up. "Trust me, I'm not going to risk a relapse."

"Trust you?" Leo asked. "I trust you with everything…. Except maybe your own health."

"Well," Don said. "You'll just have to trust with that too."

There was resistance in his tone, not the outright belligerence that Raph was known for, but the quiet resistance that was Don's signature style. It was comforting actually. A good sign his Donny was back with them.

"What do you think?" Leo asked.

"That I need to take this guy apart."

"Right now?" Leo asked.

"No," Don admitted standing up and finally facing Leo. He still looked pale and weak. "When I'm feeling up to it. I think you and Raph need to have a fight first. Then I'll get stressed out about it and then I'll feel like working."

Leo started laughing. Don was back.

A few days later, Raph had stormed off, Leo was practicing katas in the living room and Don welded his screwdriver. A couple of minutes later, he exchanged the screwdriver for an acetylene torch. When he brought it to life, a curious Mikey appeared at his door. Don chucked him a set of sunglasses and then cut into the body of the robot. He cut a square into the chest plate of the robot, exposing his insides of multiple wires and circuits. Don studied it for a few minutes before extracting a small green computer card from inside.

"What's that?" Mike asked, shedding his sunglasses.

"It's a network card."

"Okay," Mike said obviously still confused.

Don smiled, "A network card is the way a computer, or a robot in this case, gets commands from the system it's tuned too. It's like the thing's ears. So if we plug this baby in my computer…"

"Then we might get to hear what's going on."

"Exactly," Don said, giving him a smile. "Shall we?"

After Raph returned, thankfully with 4 pizza boxes in tow, Don and Mike sat everyone down in the kitchen. Figuratively anyway, there weren't enough chairs for all of them. Mike, Don, and Splinter sat the table, Raph sat on the refrigerator, and Leo was stuck with standing.

"We've been listening to the chatter across the network card," Don said. "We haven't picked up anything definite, but if we keep at it, we might be able to figure out some of their overall plans."

"Can't we use that card to figure out where the thing's home base is?" Leo asked.

"No," Don said. "I need three points to triangulate a position"

"What if we got two more robots?" Raph asked.

"It might work, but we need to have networked computers in two other locations receiving the signal. Even then it still might not work, due to amplification towers and multiple signal sources, and there is a huge margin of error, so big it might not..."

"Can we find anymore?" Leo asked.

"Robots?" Don asked. "I can look for clues in the commands. They seem to be almost like ninja. They stay in the shadows, sticking to crimes and places where the police wouldn't look."

"Are they trying to secure the criminal underworld?" Leo queried as much to himself then to Don.

"I don't know." Don replied anyway.

"Maybe they are picking up where the foot left off?" Splinter suggested. "Only with technology."

"Advanced technology," Don added. "To fight as well as they do, without someone guiding them, is impressive…and expensive."

"So do we have a plan?" Raph asked.

"Yes," Leo said. "We are going to take down two more robots, and then use them to find the home base." He looked to Don to confirm. Don merely shrugged, "It might not work…"

"So where do we find them." Raph asked.

"Let's wander around. They'll probably find us," Leo said.

* * *

As they emerged from the manhole a few hours later, Don took his first deep breath in weeks. The night air was musty with smog, but it still felt good, until he started to cough. Raph hit him on the back and then pulled Mike up out of the hole.

"Why did we have to bring Hop Along and Mr. Asthmatic?" Raph complained to Leo as Mike pulled out his crutches and hobbled a few steps away.

"They're less trouble with us here, than following us later on their own," Leo said, putting the cover back on the hole. The four of them faced the street.

"Okay," Leo said, "I didn't think I'd ever say this, but let's be conspicuous."

The four turtles wandered around on the street, lightly disguised and getting plenty of strange looks. At least a half dozen people crossed the street to avoid walking past them as they ambled along.

After about a half an hour of aimless wandering, a group of robots approached them from an alley.

"Okay," Leo said quietly. "We just need two. Raph and Don, you take on one, Mike and I…"

Unfortunately whatever Leo was going to say was drowned out but the clank of the robots encircling them.

"Was getting surrounded in the master plan?" Mike asked.

"Well it wasn't plan A." Leo said.

The robots closed in on them, until they were all standing shell to shell with ten unstoppable monsters only feet away. Raph rushed the one nearest to him trying to embed his sai into its forehead. The robot caught him by the arms and pitched him back into the group, knocking over Mike, unbalancing Leo, and sending Don to his knees.

One of the robots pulled out a tranquilizer gun and shot it point blank into the compact group of turtle. Leo managed to catch it as it went whizzing past him and crushed it in his hands. The others kept inching forward enclosing them in a tighter and tighter net. The situation wasn't looking good.

"I wonder if this will work?" Don said as he flicked a small round metallic disk from his hand. It emitted a low hum and suddenly all the robots stopped, mid move.

Leo turned his head to his brother, "What did you just do?"

"It's electromagnet. It might – and stress might – have wiped their hard drives clean."

"Why didn't you tell me about it before we left the liar?" Leo asked annoyed.

"You weren't listening. And besides, I didn't know if it would work." Don said checking the robot in front of him. "I still don't."

Mike tentatively hobbled forward and waved his hand in front of one's face. Nothing happened. "I'd say it worked bro."

Don moved forward, grabbing a small dagger off of his belt. He pried apart the head and neck of the nearest bot and cut the power cords. "Come one guys, let's take them out."

As Don approached the next one, it abruptly woke up, grabbed him and pitched him across the alley where he landed with a thud. "Like I said, I wasn't sure it was going to work."

Leo landed next to him and Mike and Raph landed in a thud at the far end of the alley as the robots they were facing also chose that moment to come back to life.

"Any more tricks up your sleeve, Einstein?" Raph growled from where he was still regaining his feet.

"Just one," Don said, pulling out another gadget, like a tiny laptop.

"What is that?" Leo asked.

"It's a blackberry, with a computer virus. Denial of service attack. Quick and dirty."

"What?" Leo asked completely confused.

"Denial of Service attack, it's… Never mind." Don punched in a couple of commands and then looked up at the robots coming for them.

Leo placed himself between Don and the three marching robots.

"Don't move Leo. Don't provoke them in anyway." Don hissed and he hit the last command.

"But they're going to kill us," Leo protested, "We have to defend ourselves."

"Just wait. Give it a minute to see if this works."

The robots were within five feet of them and weren't slowing down. "We're going to be surrounded here in about three seconds," Leo hissed. "Let me attack. It's the only hope."

"No," Don said. "I launched a computer virus into their network. I have just asked them "Are you there?" a thousand times each second. They have to answer. It is going to chew up their processor time and prevent any new messages getting in. They're relying on their own inborn programming which should be less robust then what they get from their home base."

"Huh?"

"I just cut them off from their home base. They're confused. They might not remember what they are supposed to be doing. But if we attack them, they'll know enough to defend themselves."

Don called in a loud whisper to his brothers. "Don't fight them; just stay cool for another minute."

Leo hissed under his breath, "This is Raph we're talking about."

Sure enough, Raph gave a bellow and attacked, despite Don's warning. He picked the one closest to him and Mikey. He got in a few got shots with his Sai until the robot managed to get in a crushing blow to his shell. Raph fell to his knees as Mike jumped forward, on his crutches, and caught the next shot with his nun chuck, deflecting the blow to the side.

Raph struggled up and they both backed away. The robot didn't follow. It moved to the wall and studied it like a painting. Don slowly got to his feet. He walked passed Leo and the robot that'd stopped three feet in front of him. Walking over to Raph and Mike, Don gave them a look and then beckoned with his head from them to follow him. They did, slowly, walking through crowd and exiting at the end of the alley. Mike leaned up against the store front and gave a heavy sigh. Leo met them there, his eyes never leaving the warriors behind him.

"Now what" Raph asked.

"There's one down," Mike said. "Do you suppose we could go get it?"

"Don?" Leo asked.

"I don't know what to tell you. It could work, but it might provoke them. There is no way to know."

"That's what we came here to do so let's do it. Raph, you're with me," Leo said.

They walked into the center of the alley, glancing nervously between the robots but fortunately they didn't stop their approach. Some stood still, some walked in slow circles, but not one came toward either of the green brothers. Raph and Leo picked up the dead bot and carried it back out of the alley.

"Okay, one down," Don said as his brother's dropped it at their feet.

"How do we get the next one?" Raph asked.

"Theoretically,"

"I hate when you say that Donny," Raph grumbled.

"Fine," Don said, looking annoyed, before he started coughing again. "They didn't attack you when you took that one out. So say we picked a fight with one of them, we might just be fighting one. The others might not know enough to respond. I mean there are four of us. We could handle one, right?"

Raph and Leo exchanged looks as if sizing each other up. And then the both looked over Mike and Don.

Leo said to Raph, "Could we do it? Without Hop Along and Mr. Asthmatic?"

"Hell yeah," Raph said vehemently. "You two stay here," Leo ordered, giving Mike and Don a long stare.

Raph and Leo stood at the end of the alley, looking for the most likely candidate. They finally agreed on a robot, halfway down the alley, separated from the rest by a good twenty feet, and slowly walking in circles.

Leo extended a hand to his brother, "If you'd the honors."

Raph gave him an evil grin and charged at the robot. He hit it with a flying kick and it toppled over. Leo, a second behind, drove his katana deep into the slot between the neck and shoulder. Pulling up hard, he watched as the lights in the robot's eyes faded out.

The only problem was when they picked it up, the others robots seemed to snap out of it. The nearest four started to close in. Raph picked up the dead robot and spun it around and around by its feet. He let go of it with a cry of, "Mikey, Donny, catch!" The robot sailed over the heads of their oncoming opponents. Raph didn't have to time to see if they caught it, but by the sound of the grunts and a mumbled ouch from Mike, they must have managed it.

The group closed in around Leo and Raph and the pair clicked their shells together slowly spinning in a circle, looking for the best opening. Leo stopped the circle, sheathed his swords, and tapped Raph's shoulders twice, without turning around. Raph gave a quick grunt in agreement and stuffed his sai's in his belt.

Raph grabbed both of Leo's hands as Leo leaned back into Raph's shell, and then flipped his brother over his head, dropping to his knees in the process. Raph landed in front of him. Leo cupped his hands. Raph put his left foot into them and Leo threw him into the air. Raph did a back flip and landed behind the circle of the robots. He kicked low and swept the feet out from under the nearest one. Leo did a diving leap through the gap that Raph made, landing in a somersaulting roll.

Leo popped back to his feet and the two brothers sprinted to the end of the alley where Don already had one of the bots on his shoulder, which he handed off to Leo as soon as he approached. Raph stooped to grab the other and raced ahead towards Mikey who had already started limping down the street.

Instead of moving forward, Don stood at the mouth of the alley, still holding his tiny handheld computer. "Get moving," Don said. "I'm going to stay here for a couple more minutes to keep up the virus attack."

Before Leo could protest, Don cut him off. "I'm not going fight, if it gets hairy, I'll take off. It'll give you at least a five minute head start. With Mikey the way he is, I'll catch up easily."

"Come on, Leo," Raph grunted. "He'll be fine. Let's move."

Instead Leo paused and studied his purple masked brother. There was something in his eyes. Something that Leo didn't like. Something that made him nervous.

"Look," Don said, when Leo still didn't move. "If I turn off this virus attack now, they're going to follow us, they always have before. This way we get away clean."

"No, not we, only three. We'd leave you behind."

"Leo, let's move," Raph yelled.

"What aren't you telling me?" Leo ordered Don, his voice angry.

"It'd take too long to explain. Just go, I'll be no more than ten minutes behind you."

"Why do I get the feeling that you are going to do something crazy and stupid?" Leo said.

"I swear on my honor that I'm doing nothing stupid. I'm just giving our mission a greater chance of success. I will be ten minutes behind you, no more. Go."

"Don," Leo said, his teeth clenched.

"Leo," Raph snapped. "He's fine… he knows what he's doing. Let's go."

"If eleven minutes after we get to the lair, you aren't there, Raph and I are going to personally kick your tail."

Don smiled. "At this point, I'll probably beat you back. Now go."

Leo turned and jogged up to where Raph and Mike were standing. He gave Don one more fleeting look and then disappeared into the shadows.

Don smiled to himself. He swore on his honor that he wasn't going to do anything stupid. He didn't say anything about crazy.

* * *

_A/N take 2. Thanks again to everyone who is reading. :) The next chapter may take awhile... it gets complicated. If it goes well, three left, if it doesn't four. But we are so close... so close now.  
_

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: Thanks again to Ozlex my beta reader. _

* * *

Crazy; what exactly did crazy mean? The word had awful connotation, but its dictionary meaning was 'bizarre'. And if there ever was a more bizarre thing, it was a walking talking turtle, who happened to know enough about robotics to be dangerous. Although maybe not nearly as dangerous as the killer robots themselves, which Don was planning to dissect on the sidewalk. Stupid? Absolutely not. In fact, it was the best way to ensure long term success. Crazy? Well, considering he couldn't take a deep breath, and he was so tired he was trembling, it was insane bordering on suicide.

Don walked quietly into the alley, trying to keep his coughing to a minimum. He felt his heart pound in his chest as he dropped into a crouch and pulled out a strange looking dart. The tip was made out of the remnants of a diamond cutting blade. It was incredibly sharp. Don hooked the dart to the electromagnet he had used earlier. He threw the magnetic dart at the nearest robot. Success. The dart penetrated the metal skin and stuck the magnet to its body. With a remote control, he amped up the juice on the magnet, increasing the magnetic field. The robot froze, at least for a moment.

Sneaking up behind the metallic being, Don found its data port in on the robot's side. He quickly stuck a data cable into the port. Plugging the opposite end into his laptop, Don hacked into the robot's system using codes he pulled from the robot at home in the lair.

What he found wasn't comforting. Scrolling through the file system, he looked for and hint of it's home base, or any traces of geolocation software to show the path that the robot had taken. There was nothing. But there was a program running, trying to decide if the magnetic field was a threat. As soon as it would decide no, everything would start working again. Don also discovered a program that was attempting to shut down his Denial of Service attack.

They were good, and there wasn't much time left before all the robot's succeeded in both endeavors. Don walked back over to it, carefully unscrewing its back. Out of his bag, he pulled the network card he had taken from the robot in the lair, with some additional programming. Pulling out the network card from that robot Don replaced it with his new and improved one.

Just as he got the last screw the back on the robot, it unfroze. Don scurried back to his equipment, as the robot pulled out the data jack in its side and tossed away the magnet stuck to its front. Glancing at the computer, Don noticed the last stats that came through his connection with the robot on the screen. The program to deal with his computer virus was running, which meant it was time to leave.

Don tossed all of his stuff into his bag and started to run down the alley. More robots were overcoming the virus's effects. The sound of clanking following him, until it sounded like all of them were on the move. And they were gaining on him. His chest burned with the effort of running, and every few steps produced a hacking cough. He debated about dropping his bag so he could run faster, but he needed the network card he just took out of the robot… and his laptop and his blackberry for that matter.

Reaching the mouth of the alley, Don turned around the corner. He stumbled into Leo, who caught him by his biceps, looking furious. Raph stood next to him, looking almost as annoyed.

"Ten minutes huh?" Leo asked.

"What? It was… more than… 10 minutes?" Don asked breathing hard.

"Yeah Don, more like thirty," Leo said.

"Whoa, GUYS" Raph yelled in as the army of robots clanked to the end of the alley.

"The roof," Leo commanded and led the way around the side of the building.

He jumped to a fire escape on the second story, knocking the ladder down for Raph and Don before heading up the side of the building. Raph followed Don up the ladder continuously growling at him to speed it up. Don tried to go fast, but he was just too weak. He made it to the top before collapsing onto the steel roof, wanting nothing more than to lie there for a week.

Raph, not a second behind, grabbed him by the armpits and heaved him back into a standing position. Dragging his brother over to the edge, he moved over to where Leo was studying the metal crowd below.

"You gave me your word of honor," Leo said, not looking at him.

Don was almost breathing too hard to reply, but he said, "I told you… I wouldn't… do anything… stupid."

"And this doesn't qualify as stupid?" Leo asked sarcastically.

"No… it doesn't. Insane maybe… but not stupid."

Raph gave a quick snorting laugh "Yeah…" He said chuckling even more, "That's the Donny I've been talking about."

Leo turned and faced them, Raph with his arm wrapped around Don so he wouldn't fall over and both of them with stupid grins on their faces. "Okay, if you two think this is so funny, you figure out how to get us out of this one. It's only a matter of minutes before they come up the stairs."

"We'll just leap rooftop to rooftop, like always," Don said.

"Oh yeah, like you'll be able to that," Leo snapped back.

Don held up one finger, telling his brother to give him a second. He pulled the bag off his back and rummaged through it, pulling out a small bottle and a syringe. "I came prepared just in case something like this happened." Don explained as he measured out a small amount of the medicine and was just about to poke himself when Leo grabbed his hand.

"What are you doing?" Leo demanded.

"It's epinephrine. Raph 'retrieved' some for me from that clinic to help clear my lungs."

"Then why are you taking it now?"

"Two reasons, first so I can breath," he proved his point by coughing. "Second, well…its pure adrenaline." he broke off, but he raised his eye ridges at Leo.

Raph shook his head and laughed harder. "Yeah, you're back."

Don gave him a half smile. Leo looked like he wanted to beat both of them with a baseball bat.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Don asked.

Leo took his hand off the syringe. Don injected himself, and the first thing he noticed was the tightness in his chest loosened. He took three deep breaths, relaxing, until he heard the clanking of the robots from the stairwell. Don handed his bag off to Raph and said, "It's now or never."

"Raph, you go first, Don second, I'll bring up the rear," Leo ordered.

Raph took off running and jumped to the next roof. Don followed suit, making the jump, but just barely. He landed with one foot on the lip of the building and fell forward. Raph caught him and Leo followed.

"We'll need at least two more. Go," Leo ordered. Once again Raph jumped and then Don, who made it safely that time. Leo was only a step behind.

"Go," Leo ordered. The pattern repeated with Don jumping even more confidently then before.

"Let's do one more, those things might still be able to follow us." Leo commented while taking furtive glances behind them to the multitude of rooftops.

Raph jumped the next space easily with Donny following suit. Only this time, the distance was slightly longer. Don's feet landed on the edge of the roof and he teetered unsteadily, his balance on the verge of failing him. Raph grabbed him just in time.

Leo landed next to them. "Down," he ordered brusquely, pointing toward the fire escape.

Leo led them to the manhole cover and then back into the safety of the sewers without a word. They were halfway back to the old lair, before anyone realized that they were going the wrong way. Then Leo turned impatiently on his heel and started to their new home. "What did you do?" Leo asked Don.

"What?" Don asked, sounding guilty and wishing he didn't.

"You were a half an hour behind us, not ten minutes. You certainly weren't standing on the sidelines just watching them. So what were you doing?"

Don sighed. How Leo managed to look livid, curious and concerned at the same time he would never understand. Raph gave him an encouraging smile, a look that Don had never seen on his face, except when he was trying to convince Mike to pull a prank on Leo.

"Okay," Don said sullenly looking between his two older brothers, feeling for the first time like he wanted to please them both. Unfortunately that was impossible. "Look, I tried to explain it to you earlier, but no one was listening. Even if you were, the potential benefit of my mission might have eluded you. I doubted I'd get you to agree, but it needed to be done. So I just did it. I knew what the risks were and I was willing to take them."

Leo studied his younger sibling, the anger overriding his other emotions. "So you knew that you could have been killed or captured?"

"Captured, yes, but they weren't trying to kill us. They never have." Don pointed out. "Our near fatal injuries haven't been for that reason. I hurt Mikey during the first battle and Raph took a knife for someone else. Otherwise they've been aiming to capture us. I could have played dumb long enough to stay alive until you got there; which you would have been able to do, because I put a tracker on the underside of my shell. The tracking device itself is sitting on the game system, so Mikey would have found it almost immediately. Speaking of which," Don pulled the tracker off of his shell and flipped it into the air. Raph caught it and started flipping it over in his fingers, studying it.

Leo stopped walking, "What did you do exactly?"

"I put in a different network card into one of the robots. It has a chip that will let me override the commands it gets from its home base. Meaning that I might be able to take it over."

"Why didn't you think that I would go for that? It sounds like a great idea."

"Because… it probably won't work. Even with the new card, there's less than a fifty percent chance of it actually doing what I want it to do. I'm sure you would have said, great idea Don, but let's stick with something that has better odds."

There was something new in Donny's eyes, or maybe something old. A spark that he hadn't seen since they were kids and Leo was uncertain whether he should be happy or terrified. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"You mean "this" as in taking apart robots on the fly, yes. If you mean upsetting you, then no. I hate it when you guys fight. I hate fighting with any of you."

"So you just did what you wanted, without telling anyone…to avoid a fight."

"Yeah, pretty much." Leo let out a breath and shook his head. "Look, being as I'm responsible for your safety when we're out, I need to know what's going through your head, for all of our sakes. What if you tried that and Mikey got hurt again?"

"Look, I learned my lesson. I'm not going to pull anything crazy when it could hurt anyone else. Trust me on that. I never want to go through that again."

"But," Leo said sounding almost desperate now. "You're Don. You're predictable. You're the one brother I can count on to actually listen to me, I can't have you getting rash now, I count on you."

"This is still Donny," Raph said. "You just need to trust him. Trust all of us."

Leo sighed, and didn't say anything else the rest of the way home. Once they had returned, Don immediately collapsed into his bunk and was almost instantly asleep. Raph joined Mike in a game of Ultimate Warrior, as Leo wandered into Raph's room now taken over by Splinter.

They had made a few modifications to the tiny lair in the weeks since Don started to recover. They found another bed which they put into Don's room. The brothers all bunked in together, Mike and Don on the bunk bed, Leo on the other bed, Raph on the hammock. It made for tight quarters.

"What troubles you my son?" Splinter asked as Leo watched him meditate from the doorway.

"Don." Leo sighed, kneeling in front of his father.

"What did your brother do?" Leo looked up at his father's tone. The old rat gave him a commiserating look.

As Leo began to fill him in on the details of Don's stunt, halfway through the tale, Splinter smiled and shook his head. "I'm sure that he had perfectly good reasons for his actions."

"Yes."

"And had thought up a way to overcome any obstacle he might face."

"Yes."

"And he talked you in a circle so that although you still felt he was in error, there was nothing you could say to change his mind?"

"Yes."

Splinter stood up and put his hand on Leo's shoulder. "My son, I understand your frustration. Let me introduce you to the Japanese way to deal with impossible situations."

Splinter walked to his bed and from the nest of blankets, he pulled out a small bottle, one that Leo had seen throughout his entire life, but never knew what was inside. He poured two small cups and handed one of them to Leo. The old rat lifted his own cup, "Sake, my son. To your brothers, Raphael and Donatello… may they survive to age thirty." He winked at Leo and then added, "When I first toasted them, I hoped they'd make it to ten."

* * *

"Leo, what do you have?" Don asked into his headset. "16 degrees, 13 minutes, 23 seconds."

"Round trip time?" Don continued.

"Um… 67 seconds."

"Raph?"

"2 degrees 45 minutes, 14 seconds."

"Time?"

"87 seconds."

"Mikey?"

"Huh?"

"What's the reading you're getting from the tracker?"

"Um, you mean this thingy in the bottom corner."

"Yes, that thingy. The thing that I explained to you four times before you left."

"Okay, bro, um… 14 degrees, 54 minutes, 12 seconds."

"Time?"

"45 seconds."

Don swore and then muttered something

"Language Donatello," Mike said in his best impersonation of Splinter.

"The coordinates don't make any sense," Don growled.

"What do you mean Don?" Leo asked.

"If this is right, then their base is… well... but it can't be right. Change positions and we'll try again."

Twenty minutes later, Don's swearing got even more creative.

"What is it?" Leo asked.

"Everything matches, we've got coordinates… it's just…"

"What?" Raph asked.

"Their base is… well… you'll never believe it."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry for the delay... as they say, life happens and it really does...

* * *

When Leo and Raph returned from their scouting mission, Mike met them at the door.

"Notice anything different," Mike said, literally bouncing from leg to leg.

"New eye band?" Leo asked slowly as he walked passed him and into the kitchen.

"No," Mike said, exasperated.

"New knee pads?" Leo continued, searching the tiny refrigerator.

"No."

Raph chimed in, "I know, new elbow pads."

"Guys, I can walk," Mike pointed out showing them his unwrapped ankle.

"That is good news," Leo said, grabbing the milk carton and setting it on the counter as he went to get a glass. "We're that much closer."

"Speak for yourself," Raph said, taking a swig of the milk right out of the carton. "I liked it when he couldn't walk."

Leo ripped the milk carton out of his hand, and Raph dribbled milk down his chin. Raph swatted at him, missed and ended up hitting his hand on the counter. He swore.

"What'd you guys find?" Mike asked.

"Where are Don and Master Splinter?" Leo said pouring the milk into a glass, and then grabbing another, and filling it and handing it to Raph. "We'll tell everyone together."

"Asleep and meditating," Mike said.

"Well, why don't you go get them. What Raph and I found isn't promising."

* * *

A half hour later, the family assembled in the living room. Don and Mike sat on the floor across from Leo and Splinter seated in the chairs. Raph sat on the coffee table.

"What did you find my sons?"

Leo began. "Shedder and the foot may be currently inactive, but their warehouses are well guarded. We should be able to do it, especially with Mike healthy, but it's not going to be easy. Once we get the ship, we'll have to go straight to the coordinates. It's not like the foot, or the police for that matter, are going to let us run off with a freighter unchecked."

"How many guards?" Splinter asked.

"Over twenty" Raph answered. "Five perimeter guards, seven in the warehouse itself, and then three that keep watch over the dock."

"The ship itself?" Splinter asked.

"There are no guards on board, so once we're on, it'll be okay." Leo said.

"Except that I have to figure out how to navigate a freighter in less than ten minutes." Don said, sighing.

"Thank God for Google," Mike said, giving him a cheerful grin. "Don't they have a ship simulator out there somewhere."

Don shrugged and then coughed again.

"Which is the other problem," Leo noted looking at his younger brothers. "Don is in no shape to fight."

Don looked like he might say something, but then he thought better of it and kept his mouth closed.

"You don't disagree?" Leo asked.

"No. You're right. I'm not. Master and I discussed that earlier tonight. And he's right, I'm still not well. I might last ten minutes tops in a fight. And I can't be stealthy if I have to cough every couple of minutes."

"But we need him," Raph said to Leo. "Unless you plan on me driving that boat."

"I don't want die," Mike said, turning to Don his eye pleading to him. "You have to come."

"Oh, he's coming," Leo said. "I don't think we have shot to take down an enemy with this kind of technology without him."

They found the base. It was in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, forty-four miles Southeast of Long Island. Don made them repeat finding the coordinates several times. They wandered around the city for hours, Leo with the laptop, Raph with the Blackberry, and Mike with small hand held machine. Each time the checked the location of the signal, it gave the same general answer. Don was certain the location of the signal was within a half mile around a certain point in the ocean.

Since that didn't make any sense -- a computer signal coming from the middle of the ocean -- he pulled up data from the Coast Guard about outlying islands on the New York and New Jersey shoreline. There was nothing in that spot.

In desperation, Don hacked into a GPS satellite. It took three days. At the exact location they were looking, they found a huge freighter, at least 1000 feet long, moored off a shoal.

By first glance, it looked like a derelict. Part of it was caught up on some jagged outcropping of rock. The back had broken off and was laying on it's side on the shoal. The main part of the ship and most of the cargo bays were upright, though they looked old and damaged. When Don focused in closer, the main cabin area had lights shining through some of the windows. Where there was light, there was power, and where there was power, there were people and apparently thousands of killer robots. Before they could get more information, the owner of the satellite unceremoniously kicked them off.

They needed a ship. And not just any ship, a ship capable of navigating in the open ocean. They were fresh out of ocean going vessels. Since buying one was out of the question, stealing one was the only option. That led them to the only people they could steal from with honor, the Shedder and the foot.

"Donatello must come," Splinter agreed, "But you must take precautions. Teams of two that are inseparable."

"Right," Leo agreed. "Raph, you stick to Don like glue. Mike you're with me."

"So when do we go kick some shell?" Raph asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

"As soon as Donny figures out how to operate a freighter," Leo said.

"No pressure though dude," Mike said, giving Don a wide smile.

Don pulled himself to his feet and then gave another mournful cough. "If anyone needs me, I'll be on Google.

* * *

A few days later, Leo climbed a ladder near the foot warehouse. "You ready Don?" he asked before he pushed the cover off.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Don said, shaking his head.

"So did Google really have a ship simulator?" Mike asked as they pulled themselves out of the manhole, near foot headquarters.

"Well…" Don said, giving Mike a sideways glance, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies."

"What?" Mike asked.

Don and Raph exchanged a glance.

"What did you two do?" Mike asked, "And why I couldn't I come?"

"We didn't do nothing," Raph said.

"Yes, you did," Mike shot back. "It's written all over your face."

Don snickered, "The only thing that was permanently missing was some gas. The owners didn't even miss their boat, thanks to the supply of alcohol we gave them."

Leo smacked Don on the back of his head, in a typical Raph to Mikey move.

"Hey," Don said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Mike said, with a commiserating smile.

"Stealth mode guys," Leo said. "Don, Raph, get into position. Diversion in ten minutes."

"You sure you know what to do?" Don asked Mike.

"Sure, dude, no problem," Mike said with a giant grin. "Stick them on, hit the button, wait five minutes, big boom. Then rinse and repeat. Even I can handle this one."

"Famous last words," Raph muttered as he headed off in the opposite direction.

"That's what worries me." Don said as he coughed. With a last glance at Mikey and Leo, he followed Raph around the side of the building, toward the sound of water lapping against the dock.

* * *

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Leo asked, a third time as he and Mike rounded to the front of the warehouse.

"Yes," Mike said, exasperated. "All I do is stick these babies on the wall using this thing. No problem."

"I thought that thing, the stud finder, was supposed to show you where NOT to put the explosives."

"No, he said to put them where it beeped."

"He said to put them where it wasn't beeping," Leo said.

They stared at each other for a couple of long seconds.

"Do you want to call him?" Mike asked as he walked to the side of the brick building.

"It'll blow his cover," Leo said, following him, looking troubled.

"Then just let me do this. What's the worst that can happen?" Mike asked, giving Leo one of his famous grins.

Leo sighed and watched glumly as Mike found passed the small machine over the outside of the building. When all the lights on the monitor lit up, Mike placed two explosives on the spot, 12 inches apart, and hit the center button on each The little devices began flashing.

"All set," Mike said. "We need to get one more set before this one goes off."

"Right," Leo said, following Mike as he dashed around the side of the building.

Mike stopped suddenly, flattening himself against the wall. He pointed up. Leo glanced up and saw two guards on the roof of the building.

Leo pointed to his wrist to indicate a ticking watch and Mike nodded. He pulled out the stud finder and with his chest pressed against the wall, ran it until he found a spot. He put two more explosives on that spot, hit the center button and then watching the guards carefully, he ducked out away from the building, into the dark deserted street.

Leo followed again, and motioned for them to duck behind a dumpster sitting next the building across the street. In the shadows, Leo watched his watch, as the second ticked away.

KABOOM. The night sky flashed yellow. Alarms started going off all over the place. Lights flickered inside the building and then went dark. A minute later, another explosion ripped through the night. After his ears stopped ringing, Leo realized that there was another creaking sound, the building itself.

"Did Don say something about not putting the explosives too close together?" Leo asked and the whine grew louder and bricks began to fall from the holes in the wall.

"Maybe," Mike said.

"We have to get out of here," Leo yelled, pulling Mikey up. He shoved Mike in front of him and then sprinted away from the building. A thunderous noise rose up behind them and the earth shook. They both fell to the ground and a wave of dust flew over their heads.

"You know," Mike said half coughing as he sat up. "I think you were right, I think I wasn't supposed to put them where the light flashed. I was supposed to put them between two places where the lights all flash."

Leo sat up and looked back at the warehouse. The three story building had partially collapsed, leaving the corner they were staring at totally in ruins. The whole building had shifted, leaning toward the collapsed side.

"Well," Leo said. "We have less than five minutes to get that boat gone before this place is crawling with cops. Let's just hope Don and Raph can get it done."

* * *

Raph and Don waited, chests to the ground, until the second explosion when off. The guards that had been watching on the dock ran toward the explosion. Just as Raph got up and was going to make a run for the building, Don caught him and pulled him back to the ground.

"What?" Raph said, irritated.

Don held up one finger to indicate to wait. A half minute later, the building collapsed. The side they were on shifted, but it didn't fall. Don took his hand of his brother shell and indicated to go ahead.

They took off, jumped onto the dock, and then leaped a story up to the deck of the ship.

"Check to see if we're tied off anywhere," Don said, "I'll check our fuel status. We don't have much time. Mikey blew up the building, instead of blowing holes in it. We have minutes."

Raph nodded, racing around the main deck checking for ropes. Don entered the bridge, furiously checking gages hoping that he didn't miss anything.

"We're clear," Raph said coming in.

"And we're full," Don supplied. "You see that lever?"

Raph nodded.

"As soon as Leo and Mike are on board, pull it, that's the anchor."

Don sat down at the main control, cracked his fingers and started typing. He typed in coordinates of their location, typed into the desired speed and watched as the computer gave him the appropriate headings.

Leo and Mike appeared at the door, Raph pulled his switch, and Don engaged the engines forward at ¼ speed. They moved slowly out of the dock.

"So Mikey?" Don asked as he brought the helm around to maneuver out of the harbor. "Did you listen to anything I said? Cause if you had, the building wouldn't have fallen over."

"Just missed a few details bro. It was effective. All you wanted was a distraction."

"If all we wanted was a distraction," Don said, "we would have sent you in the front door juggling. The code of Bushido will require retribution."

"And a hole in the side of their building wouldn't?" Mike pointed out, with an evil grin.

Don gave him a smile, despite himself. "Okay, fair."

"Besides," Mike added, "I can't juggle."

"How long will it take us to get there?" Leo asked.

"When we get out of the harbor, I'll increase speed to about thirty knots. It's about forty miles from here, so it'll take just over an hour."

"As long as nothing goes wrong," Raph pointed out.

"Right," Leo agreed.

"Here's hoping," Mike said.

* * *

Nothing went wrong for the majority of the journey. But as they approached their destination, the radio started going nuts.

"Fitzwilliam to Saki, over."

This simple statement repeated itself five times, each time with increasing tension on the part of the sender until Don finally picked up the radio.

"Saki here, over." Don said.

"Saki, check your headings. Your course is taking you out of shipping lanes. You're drifting into shallow waters, over."

"Checking, over." Don said. Don sat back in the chair and stroked his chin like he did when he was pondering a really hard problem.

"What are the talking about?" Leo asked.

"They're telling us that we are in danger of running aground. Sinking," Don replied.

"Are we?" Leo asked.

"Yes. But there isn't any other way to get there." Don said. "I have to figure out something to tell these guys. Get them off our case."

"Tell them that there must be something wrong with their equipment," Raph said. "Throw in some swear words and they'll want to leave us alone."

Don cocked his head from side to side as if considering it.

"But are we in real danger?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Don said. "But its the only way to get there. You saw the ship, it obviously ran aground." Don considered Raph for a minute, and then held up the radio. "Do you want to tell them off? You're so much better at that stuff than I am."

"Give me that," Mikey said grabbing it out of Don's hand.

"Fitzwilliam, this the Captain Hamato," Mike said in a mock deep voice. "Can you tell me what exactly is the problem?"

"Your position puts you in danger of running aground."

"Ensign," Mike said, cocking his eyebrows at Don, with the radio still on, "Can you confirm that?"

Don rushed him and tried to pull the radio out of his hand.

Mike wrapped the cord around his hand, turned his back to his brother and then said, "Hmm, that's odd. Our coordinates do not agree with your coordinates. Ensign, full diagnostic. Are our systems in error?"

Don got a hold of the radio, but a quick nun-chuck strike made him drop it with a loud. "Hey."

At that moment, the ship bucked and made a sickening noise. Then it pitched one way and then another. The radio cord snapped off as Mike and Don went tumbling into a heap. Raph braced himself against the wall, and Leo grabbed onto the helm.

"What just happened?" Leo asked as he regained his feet.

Don pushed Mike off of him, coughed, and then said. "Just a guess. We're probably sinking."

The ship, which kept creaking and shifting, pitched completely to one side, throwing all of the against the starboard wall. Then the creaking stopped with a SNAP.

"We need to get out of here," Leo yelled, trying to stagger to his feet. It was tough. The ship was on it's side and he was trying to stand up on a wall. Raph to his left was having a better time of it. He was upright, standing on a window.

"Leo!" Raph yelled, "Mikey."

Leo turned and saw Mike a few feet from him, face down and motionless. Water began to seep up around their feet. Leo grabbed Mike and pulled him up before the water covered his face. Mike's head lolled around.

Water began to pour in from all sides. They were trapped.


	13. Chapter 13

"Now what?" Raph asked, as he pulled a dazed Don to his feet. Don rubbed his head and then shook it as if to clear it.

"We get out of here," Leo said, glancing around.

Raph stared around the room. Everything was exactly where it was before, just on it's side. The chairs, bolted the floor, were now four feet over their heads. The ceiling, which used to be the port side of the ship, was over twenty feet straight up.

"And how exactly do we do that?" Raph asked.

Leo shifted the unconscious Mike in his arms and said, "That's a good question. Got anything Donny?"

"I'm working on it," Don replied studying the wall, the floor, the ceiling, in turn.

"Work faster," Raph said, as the water got to his knees.

They all were silent for a minute before Leo said, "Think out loud Don."

"We're on our side, but we're in shallow water. Some spots are less than twenty feet deep or else we wouldn't have run aground. That's good, because the boat won't sink too far, which means it wouldn't suck us under when it goes down."

"Think faster," Leo said. The water was lapping his thighs.

"We just need to get off, somehow. We could just let the ship fill with water, and swim to the top. The vortex around the ship as it goes down will be short so even if we are sucked under, it wouldn't be for too long. We're turtles so we should be able to make it out okay."

"Except that Mike is unconscious." Leo said.

"So we find lifejackets," Don said, once again scoping out the room they were in. "Raph, give me a boost."

Raph cupped his hands together. Don placed his foot in and Raph threw him up in the air. Don caught the nearest chair with his hands. Carefully shifting his weight, he let go with one hand, grabbed his bo and then used it to open a door on a bulkhead.

"Got it," Don said with triumph.

He used the bo to pull out all sorts of random stuff. It all rained on Raph's head, who swore loudly at him, until he found two lifejackets. They fell on Raph's head, he caught them and threw them both to Leo.

Don sheathed his bo, gripped the chair with both hands and then swung up higher. He managed to get himself on top of the chair. He slowly stood up and then opened another bulkhead. He found two more lifejackets tossed one down and hooked the other one on his bo for himself.

Don left himself down with a splash. The water was now up to his chest.

"Are you sure there is a way out?" Leo asked.

Don pointed to a spot that used to be on the ceiling. "That's an access hatch to the roof, outside."

"Shouldn't we make sure it will open?" Leo asked.

"You tell me how to get there," Don said.

Leo stared at, "Right."

"If it doesn't open, we'll still have a couple of minutes to figure something else out," Don pointed out.

"Besides," Raph said, "I can bust down any door. Even underwater."

They didn't have long to wait. The water poured in faster and faster. The lifejackets, which were a bad fit, managed to keep them floating. They rose slowly off the floor with the rising water as the ship went down.

Leo kept a tight hold on Mike while Raph and Don fought with the access panel. After a few anxious seconds, it popped open with a squeak. Raph gave Don a small shove, wanting him out first. Don resisted the push, but he lost his balance and went out the open hatch

They heard him scream and then swear at Raph. Raph pulled himself over the edge of the hatch and saw Donatello, thanks to the bright moon, bobbing in the water, seven feet below. He was trying to pull a piece of wood out of his arm.

"You okay?" Raph yelled.

"I'm fine, no thanks to you," Don said.

The ocean around him was strewn with debris. Pieces of woods, plastics, and other buoyant material was floating around the sinking boat like garbage floating down the sewer.

"I'm going to send Mikey," Raph said.

Raph turned and pulled the still unconscious turtle toward the exit. The ship was getting lower by the second. Raph heaved Mike through the hatch and then watched as the turtle fell, six feet now, to Don, who sort of caught him. They both went under for a few seconds and then bobbed back to the surface.

"I can see a rock sticking up out of the water," Don yelled up to Raph. "I'll take Mikey and head that way." Don pointed behind him.

Raph nodded and then looked over to Leo. "Let's get out of here."

Leo nodded and the two of them jumped together into the churning water.

They all met at the rock. The water was shallow at that spot and there were a few spots where they could stand. They watched as their little freighter was sucked under the water, leaving nothing behind but debris.

"Now what?" Raph asked as he tried to keep his feet planted on a rock.

Don was checking over Mike, whom he had tethered to himself using his eye band. "Well, look at it this way," he said, still looking at Mike's head. "We're thirty miles from the coast. I don't care if we are turtles, that's a very long way to swim. We're within a mile of the other ship. At this point, it only makes sense to head for there."

"I agree," Leo said. "Do we know what's wrong with Mikey?"

"No," Don said. "He's got a pretty good lump on his head. So I'd guess a concussion, again. Which isn't good. Two head injuries in such a short time…"

"What," Leo prompted after Don drifted off and didn't continue.

"There isn't anything we can do about it now. Let's just get going. It's a good think it's a clear night. The boat should be that way."

Don pointed to the Southeast, using the North Star to get his bearings.

Raph took Mike's tether from Don and started swimming.

* * *

It took forever to get there, over an hour of exhausting swimming. The worst part was is that they could see the lights of the boat long before they got there. They kept swimming and the lights grew closer and closer, but it took almost forty-five more minutes to get there. By the time they arrived, all three conscious turtles were panting heavily. Don led them around, away from the lights, onto the shoal, were the water was shallow.

They lay on the rocks panting. Don flipped off his lifejacket, and then reached over and pulled off Leo's headband. "Take it off," Don said between pants.

"What? Why?" Leo asked not looking at him.

"If we take off…" he stopped to cough, "all of our gear, then we…" another cough, "from the back might pass…" another cough, "for giant sea turtles."

"So," Raph countered.

"It will buy us…" cough "some time." Don finished, pulling off his own mask, knee and elbow pads. He then slipped off his belt, adjusted himself so that he was on his stomach with back was to the freighter. He slipped his bo underneath him.

Leo shrugged, but did as requested, and then did the same for Mikey. He was just about to say something to Raph when he saw him pull off his lifejacket and toss it.

They stayed there for a long time. The sun broke across the open water turning the ocean in a fiery soup. The first rays of sunlight hit their bodies and Raph could feel the heat and warmth penetrate him, restoring him, bit by bit.

Raph asked, "So what do we do know?"

"I've been thinking about it," Leo said softly, not turning to look at him.

"And?" Raph prompted.

"The first thing we need to do is figure out some way to get home. We don't have many options. Our cell phones are shot, so we can't call for help. We certainly can't swim all the way back, not through open ocean. We'll get lost, or drown, or get spotted. But there has to be something on the freighter. If the source of the signal is there and the robots are there, they must have some way of getting back and forth from the main land."

"So, we steal a boat?" Raph said. "This is sounding like our last plan. And if you hadn't noticed, that didn't work so well."

"Do you have a better idea?" Leo asked.

"No, but Donny does. Right Donny?"

Don didn't respond. Raph nudged him with his foot. "Right Donny?"

"Huh?" Don said, groggily. "What?"

"You got a better plan than Leo right?"

"What's Leo's plan?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" Leo asked.

"I guess not," Don said.

"So what's your plan," Raph asked Don again.

"We steal another boat."

Raph groaned and Leo continued, "So the question is how do we do it."

"Not how," Don said, "Who."

"Huh?"

"We'll have to break in and steal a boat, that much is obvious, but we can't leave Mikey here like this. He's literally a sitting duck. Turtles are a prime meal for sharks." Don rubbed his forehead.

Raph gave Leo a look and then said, "He was your buddy."

"And," Don added, "you'd have the easiest time defending him with your blades. My staff won't do much to a full grown shark, and Raph's sais are a close range weapon."

"Fine," Leo conceded. "Do you have a plan?"

"Of course not," Raph said, giving Leo a grin. "Who needs a plan?"

Don and Leo exchanged looks. Leo turned to Raph and gave him a quick smile. "Get comfy."

* * *

The sun had started to sink before Raph and Don stirred off the rock and swam for the ship. Raph had spent the day grumbling about the delay, but both Leo and Don though stealing a ship would be easier at night.

Mike's condition had not improved. He was still unconscious. Don had watched him carefully for any change during the day, but there were none. Once again, nothing to do but watch. Don took a final glance back and gave Leo a half-hearted wave. Then he dove under and followed Raph toward the ship.

They surfaced at the break point, where the ship had broken itself in half. Even in the fading light, they could see signs of life. The ship had split in two, but there was a metal walkway connecting the parts.

Raph hoisted himself up on the walkway. He pointed forward toward the front of the ship. Don joined him and pointed back.

They stared at each other intense silence for a moment until Don mouthed, "Trust me."

Raph sighed, looking angry, but he followed his brother as Don walked inside the back half of the ship. The walkway continued on into murky blackness in front of them. From the ceiling hung single light bulbs spaced out at 100 feet intervals. Don found a switch and snapped it on, but it didn't help much.

They walked forward. There was nothing to see, just an empty cargo bay sitting on it's side. They walked another 200 feet and to their left, one of the hatches to the cargo bay was open, on the open sea. The first flickers of the full moon were rising above the water.

After they passed the open hatch, they came upon boxes and shipping containers, hundreds of packages of all different sizes in makeshift shelves. Don pulled one of the smaller boxes open. It contained a package of pure white powder. Don showed Raph who shook his head. Then Raph opened a box. This time, the box held a delicate silver tiara encrusted with rubies.

"Interesting," Don said, fingering it.

Raph set it aside. They checked others. The boxes held more drugs, jewelry, antiques, books, nitroglycerin, and tons of other objects that didn't seem to fit together.

Manufacturing equipment of different shapes flanked either side of the walkway as they move further. And then as they found the end of the walkway, they hit pay dirt. Rubber lifeboats were stacked 10 high off the end of walkway. Then Don picked up a machine sitting next to them.

"What's that?" Raph asked just above a whisper.

"An outboard motor," Don said, with a smile. "This is our ticket home."

"But what is this place?" Raph asked. "What are they doing here?"

Don shrugged. "At this point, do we care?"

"Damn right we do," Raph said. "We came here to take these bastards down, and I ain't leaving until we do."

"Raph come on. The mission was a failure as soon as our boat sank. Our best bet is to tuck and run, get home and maybe try again."

"There will never be a try again. This is the only shot we have at this. I didn't come all this way to run back home with my tail between my legs."

"What about what Leo said?"

"He ain't here is he?"

Don rolled his eyes. "What about Mikey?"

"Can you do anything for him when you get home?"

Don didn't answer.  
"So he's no worse off sitting out there on the rock than he would be at home. These bastards are why Mikey got hurt in the first place, not once but twice. They trashed our lair, they almost killed you, me, Leo, Casey, and April. I'm not leaving until we take them down."

Don sighed. "Fine. But let's stash the boat and the motor outside so we don't have to come back here to get it."

Raph nodded and the two of them carefully lowered the raft, with the motor inside, into the water. The jumped in after it and swam it over to a jagged outcropping of rock that was taller than the others. It was a small island in itself. Don tied off the raft to the rocks. Then they swam back to the break in the ship.

This time, they weren't alone. Two men were holding guns while four others pulled out bodies of one of the other rafts. Don gasped. Raph caught his mouth and pulled them both underwater, dragging Don further toward the prow of the ship.

"But that's…" Don began, coughing up water after they surfaced.

"Yeah, they got Leo and Mikey," Raph said, a steel note in his voice "Let's find another way in and bust them out of there."

Don nodded and followed as Raph made his way towards the front. The front of the ship was upright and lights shown through the round windows far above their heads. Raph swam to the prow, which had a ceramic Asian maiden attached into it, and started around the other side.

Don caught him by the arm. "Look we aren't going to find any doors. Most of the time this part of the ship is underwater. An occasional porthole maybe, but we aren't going to fit through that."

"So what do we do?"

"We go up, or go in the back door."

Raph stared above. The ship rose like a five story apartment building, which was absolutely no problem. They had scaled countless building in the past. He said. "Up it is."

Don rose his eye ridges, and watched as Raph tried to scale the sheer metal walls. After the third failed attempted, Raph growled in anger and pulled out his sai and tried to shove it into the side of the boat. Don caught the blade in his bo before it pierced the hull.

"Don't. You'll ruin the blade," he said. "Follow me."

Don lead him back to the place where they saw Leo and Mike being taken aboard the ship. The raft had gone and the night was empty again. Don swam toward the opening and Raph caught him.

"Don't be stupid," Raph said after he cursed at him. "If it's the only way in, it will be guarded.

Don held up a finger, jerked his arm free, and then made for the side of ship, not the door. Using the jagged hull from the where it broke apart, Don managed to climb up with comparative ease. Raph followed him up.

They pulled themselves onto the deck of the freighter. Only it wasn't a deck, more like a loading dock. Almost 500 feet of open space. They both fell flat on their faces, the dark shielding them from view. The pulled themselves along slowly, still on their stomachs, as they made it for the main cabin area.

They jumped up on the actual deck and they were blinded. 1000 Watts of flood lights turned on and both were forced to close their eyes. When Don could squint through them again, he sighed. They were surrounded by 10 men, and 5 robots, all carrying guns.

"Welcome," said a man with a heavy Asian accent. "I have been waiting for you."

There was the sound of like gunfire and Don felt needles poke his legs, arms, and neck. He dropped to his knees and then he knew no more.


	14. Chapter 14

Raph awoke to see Leo standing over him.

"You okay?" Leo asked as Raph pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Yeah, I think so. Where are the others?"

"There in here, with us. They're both still unconscious."

Raph looked around the room. It was a small room, barely 6 feet across, maybe 12 feet long. He was sitting on a narrow bunk bed. Mike was directly across from him. An IV line ran out of his arm. Don was laying on his shell above him in the top bunk. There was a mask over his face, a blood pressure cuff on his arm, and a monitor on his hand.

Leo continued, "I think Don is going to be out awhile. You took two darts, he took five. The guards brought you in and dumped you on the bed. Don didn't show up for almost an hour." Leo paused, stood up, and paced the length of the room in five quick strides. "That was a long hour."

When Raph didn't speak, Leo went on, "When they did finally bring him in, they hooked him up to all the equipment. The mask is to make sure he gets enough oxygen, the blood pressure cuff takes his blood pressure every five minutes, and the thing on his hand measures his blood oxygen level. They told me to call for them, if either his blood pressure or blood oxygen drops."

"That sounds like they were trying to help him," Raph said, rubbing his head, which thudded with a dull headache.

"We are," said a voice from the hallway. "If the turtle in red would like a painkiller for the headache that he must surely have, just let me know."

"Who are you?" Raph shouted.

"Just a medic. Blue, has the orange one come around?"

"No," Leo said curtly.

"Has anything changed for purple?"

"No," Leo answered.

"I'll be back in another couple of hours to check on them. Until then gentlemen, I suggest you rest. It is almost midnight and his Lordship will want to see you in the morning."

"Who is his Lordship," Raph yelled, "And what does he want with us?"

"I'm not at liberty to answer the first question, and the second one eludes me as well. All I can tell you is what I was told, which was to care for your wounds and make you as comfortable as possible. I'm sure both answers will come in the morning. Now do you want anything for your headache?"

"No!" Raph shouted.

"Suit yourself. I'll be back in two hours if you change your mind. Good night, the ship lights will be dimming in a few minutes."

There was a clanking of footsteps as the medic walked away across the metal floor. Leo paced the room again. Raph rubbed his head. Leo stopped in front of him.

"I can help that," he said.

Raph nodded.

Leo took Raph's hand and squeezed the pressure points. After a minute, Raph's breathing slowed and his neck began to relax. Then Leo switched hands and held the other pressure point. Quite suddenly, the lights went out. Leo let go of Raph's hand and climbed in the bed over his head.

"Ain't we going to try something?" Raph asked just above a whisper.

"With Don and Mike unconscious?" Leo said calmly. "For the moment, we're stuck. But you remember what Splinter always told us before we went to sleep when we were kids?"

The words came to Raph as if Splinter was standing over him in the darkness, 'Sleep well, my sons. Tomorrow is a new day and will bring its own fate.'

* * *

Raph had barely registered that the lights came back on before the door banged opened. Several pairs of feet marched in and before Raph could move. When he sat up, two guards stood over Leo and him. One had a gun on him, the other on Leo. Another man, dressed in a white coat checked over Don and Mike.

The man murmured, "Ah, that's good." Raph realized it was the medic from the night before. The medic turned to look at Leo, "Purple is coming around. Once he does, he's going to feel pretty awful. Make sure he gets lots of water to drink."

"And my other brother?" Leo asked.

"Ah, yes. I've developed a theory about him. I believe that he is an a dormant state, almost like he is hibernating. I've been comparing the body temperatures of your brothers. Red's temperature was the highest, he came around first. Purple temperature was low when I first saw him, but it has recovered slowly through the night. Now he is just about the same as Red and he is waking up." As if on cue, Don groaned.

The medic continued, "Orange's temperature is very low. His body has shut down everything but the most important functions in order to heal the injury in his head. I don't think the head injury is serious. I had an X-Ray taken, and granted that doesn't show me much, but at least I can tell his brain doesn't appear to be damaged, or bleeding. I suggest that we slowly increase his body temperature to help him come out of it."

"But what if he's not ready to wake up." Leo shot back.

"Then he won't wake up. But if I'm right, bringing up his temperature will convince his body that it's time to wake up."

There was silence in the room for almost a minute.

The medic went on, "Orange is your kinsmen. I will not proceed without your permission."

"Do it," Raph said in a low growl.

The medic looked to Leo, who nodded slowly.

"Right then," he said brightly. He exited the room and returned a minute later with a blanket. "This in an electric blanket. Should warm him up nicely. We'll keep it on low for about ten minutes." The medic handed Leo a stopwatch. "After that, turn it off. We don't want to warm him too fast. If he tolerates that nicely, we'll turn it back on again for another 10 minutes. Does that make sense?"

Leo nodded again.

"Good, good. We'll take our of leave of you gentlemen. I'll be back in say half and hour. Breakfast should be arriving soon. Remember, do give Purple lots of water."

They left the room in a clank of footsteps. Before the door shut, one of the guards pushed in a cart loaded with food. There were three shelves. The top was loaded with standard breakfast food: scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, cereals, yogurt, and toast. The middle shelf had a wide variety of vegetables: carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, eggplant and host of others. The last shelf had all kinds of drinks, milk, juice, pop, coffee, tea, and a huge jug of water.

The medic's voice came through the door, "Make sure Purple gets lots of water. It wouldn't hurt if Red did the same."

Leo sighed, hopped down from his bed and helped himself to the scrambled eggs.

"You're just going to eat it?" Raph asked.

"Yeah, and you should too. It's not drugged. They obviously want us all awake. We need to keep our strength up."

Just as Raph grabbed several pieces of bacon, Don moaned, a horrible throaty sound that made him sound like a duck.

"Easy, Donny," Leo said, grabbing Don's hand. "You're going to be okay."

"Then why does it feel like all my muscles turned to lead?" Don asked, struggling to open his eyes.

"You were drugged, over drugged really," Leo said. "Can you sit up, you need some water."

Don did so, but he was slow, like he was ninety years old. After he was in a sitting position, Leo helped him drink a glass of water. He put another glass in Don's hand, when he was sure he could hold it. Then he checked Mike and turned off the blanket.

The improvement in Mike was profound. He was no longer pale and his eyes were moving under their lids.

When the medic returned thirty minutes later, all four were awake. Mike was groggy, but talking and laughing. Don moved like a mummy, but he was moving. Raph still had his headache, which didn't improve his mood. And Leo was ever watchful.

Before the medic left, he said, "Your audience with his Lordship will be in 1 hour's time. Prepare yourselves."

"For what," Raph muttered as he left with his guards.

"I guess we'll find out," Leo said.

* * *

Fifty-seven minutes later, according the stopwatch that Leo still had, ten heavily armed guards showed up at the door of their room.

"Raph," Leo whispered, "take up the rear position, make sure they don't ruffle with Don or Mike. Donny, I want you behind me, like a shadow on my shoulder. I need to remember everything that is said. Mike, check for exits, possible weapons, anything that we could use to help us. Don and Mike, stay quiet. Raph, just be yourself."

The guards opened the doors and the gestured with guns that they should come out. They did, single file, Leo in the lead, Raph at the end. They were marched through narrow corridors and several sets of steps until they got to a door painted bright red.

They walked through the door and emerged into an enormous room. It must have been part of a cargo bay at one time. The ceiling rose 70 feet above them, the room as long as the ship was wide. In the direct center there was a raised platform, almost like a dais, with an ornate chair sitting directly in the middle. Sitting in the chair was a small Asian man dressed in a black jump suit. He studied them intently. To his right, stood another Asian man, dressed in military attire. The turtles were taken to the base of the dais. The guards backed off to a respectful distance, but they kept their guns trained on them.

The man on the chair stood, placed his hands together and bowed. Leo and Don followed the gesture. Mike followed their lead a second too late, and Raph stood rigid as a statue.

"Welcome gentlemen. Considering the effort I put into getting you here, it would have been nice to know that you would come yourselves. Would have saved me considerable expense. But that is no matter. You are here."

"What do you want with us?" Leo asked, a hard edge in his voice.

"Many things, to be honest," the man said, seating himself back in the chair. "You have technology that I want, but more importantly, you have someone who can manipulate that technology. You are gifted warriors and your skills would greatly improve my army."

"Like we would help you," Raph shot at him.

"I am many things. One thing I am not, is stupid," he said glancing between Leo and Raph. He extended a hand to the man standing on his left side, who placed a small device in it. The man in the chair fiddled with the controls and then suddenly, Don screamed in pain and fell to knees, clawing at the back of his neck.

Leo screamed, "Stop it."

Mike fell to his knees beside his brother.

Raph rushed the man on the dais. Before he made it to the first step, two blades materialized out of nowhere and crisscrossed around his neck. Raph froze as the steel cut into his skin.

The man, still sitting calmly in his chair, flicked a button. Don's screaming abruptly stopped. Don fell to the floor on his face, panting heavily.

Mike helped Don sit up. He was trembling all over, like his muscles had all turned into water balloons.

"As I said," the man continued. "I am not stupid. The purple one is the only one that I truly need. The rest of you are cream, so to speak." He gestured with his hands a couple of guards. "Take the purple one back to their room, tend to him. I want him ready for an interview this afternoon."

The guards moved forward and moved to grab Don out of Mike's arms. Mike resisted, knocking their hands away. With a look to the man in the chair, one of the guards gave Mike a sharp blow on the back of his head. Mike groaned and fell sideways. The guards grabbed Don and pulled him away.

Raph growled, but didn't move and Leo scowled deeply. They all watched as the guards dragged Don away. After they had left, Leo extended a hand and pulled Mike back to his feet. Leo put a hand on Raph's shoulder and made eye contact with the man with the swords. The man retracted the swords from around Raph's neck and Leo pulled him back. Then he stood in front of his brothers.

"What do you want with us?" Leo repeated his question.

"You are ninjas. Ninjas are mercenaries of the highest degree. I want your services. And since I could not hire you, I chose the only option available. We will discuss the specifics later. For now, introductions. I am Lord Lim. This is my lieutenant Mr. Wong. And you are?"

Leo crossed his arms across his chest and said nothing.

"Very well," Lim said. "I will simply refer to you by color. Take them back to their room."

When they arrived back, Don was lying on the bottom bunk, apparently asleep, with an IV running out of his hand. Leo knelt down beside him and put his hand on his shell.

"Donny, can you hear me?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Don said without opening his eyes. Then in a whisper, he added, "I.. ah… can't tell you what was said."

Leo smiled, "That's all right. I don't I'll ever forget."

"What do we do?" Mike asked.

Leo exchanged a dark look with Raph. They both looked over at Don passed out on the bed.

"Nothing," Raph said, and gave Leo a nod. "We ain't going to do nothing."

"Yet," Leo added.

* * *

A/N: I know I said this two or three chapters ago, but this should really be done in 2 or 3 more chapters. Thanks for sticking with it. It will end soon I promise.


	15. Chapter 15

Two weeks passed more slowly than any that Raph could remember. He and Leo were kept in their cell for 22 hours a day. They were allowed two hours a day to practice in an empty cargo hold, under heavy guard.

Don was taken every morning at seven to go work in a lab. He stayed there about nine each night. Occasionally, Mike would accompany him. But according to Mike, it wasn't any more exciting for him than sitting in the cell with Leo and Raph. Worse really, because Leo and Raph had taken to playing cards to pass the time, and Don was under constant guard and harassed to keep working on a project. When he would tire, or not do what they would ask, they would set off the device in his neck.

Lim wanted them to break into a high security vault at the First National Bank of New York and steel some gems from one of the richest families in the city. Don was working on a set of handheld devices that would allow them to breech the vault.

Hour after long hour, Raph and Leo made plans, but they were always contingent on getting the device out of Don's neck, which was impossible without a knife. Night after night, Don would return to the room empty handed, and Raph would pace and swear. Mike looked glum and even Leo was feeling restless.

One night though, Don was brought back earlier than usual. The guards literally threw him in the tiny cell, and he crashed right into Raph. The two fell on the floor with a thud. Then the guard hit the button and Don tensed, in obvious pain, but he didn't scream. Finally the guards looked satisfied and released the button. Raph detangled himself from Don and then helped Don, who was trembling from head to foot, onto one of the beds.

"What happened?" Leo asked, kneeling down next to him.

Don gave a half smile, but didn't speak. He put his finger to his lips. He moved his shaky hand down his leg and pulled something out of his knee pad. He handed it to Leo and winked.

"What is this?" Leo mouthed.

Don's hands mimed an explosion.

Leo gave a big nod to show he understood.

Don pulled someone out of his other kneepad. He found Mike and pulled him in close. Then he put the other device into Mike's belt and winked.

Mike nodded.

"It's tonight?" Raph asked in a barely audible voice. Don nodded. Leo looked worried and Mike grabbed Don's hand.

"We can do this," Raph said. "Together we can."

* * *

The door burst open shortly after the lights on the ship went out. Even though Leo was awake and ready, it was still a shock. Before he could move, he heard Don cry out. Leo sat up and watched with his fists clenched as the guards dragged Don out of the room.

"Mike?" Leo asked as he jumped down from his bunk.

"I'm already on it."

"Raph."

"I'm a go on Mikey's signal."

"Good." Leo said. Then he paced up and down the small room.

"Calm down, Leo," Raph said. "They ain't going to kill him. They need him. They said so themselves."

"That doesn't mean they won't beat the crap out of him," Leo countered. "Mike?"

"On the way," Mike answered, "I'd say five minutes."

Raph ran his hands along the door and then placed the small bomb on the locking mechanism. After it was placed, he hit a button in the center and the three turtles retreated to the far wall. It went off with a small pop and a sizzle. But it left a hole the size of a basketball in the door.

Mike said with a smile, "You've got to admit, Don is good."

Raph went over and pushed the door open. He went out and looked down the long hallway. Leo followed him out and faced the other way. Within a minute, a heavily armed robot headed toward them. Raph tensed as it approached.

Mike smiled, "Now, we're talking."

The robot stopped a foot in front of Raph and dropped all of its weapons on the floor. Raph picked up his Sais and then handed Leo his swords and Mike his chucks. He picked up Don's bo and handed it to Leo, who used his katana holsters to hold it on his back.

"Now Mikey, make it show us where Don is." Leo ordered.

"I'll try. I only got one lecture about how to use this thing." Mike said fiddling with the controls.

The robot spun around in circle and then started marching back the way he came. The turtles followed him. He led them up two floors and down a hallway that they had never seen before. The robot walked into a room. The turtles followed.

Leo's stomach dropped. The robot had led them onto the bridge of the ship. Ten uniformed people were sitting around a large table in the center of the room. They all rose as one, and stared at the turtles.

"Attack," one of them said.

"Fall back," Leo called to his brothers.

"Like Hell," Raph yelled, rushing the nearest man. He kicked the man in the face, sending his flying across the room and caught another in the chest with the butt of his sai.

"Fine," Leo said as he kicked a gun out of a man's hands. "But we haven't got all day."

"I'll be fast," Raph said, taking out a third man.

"Besides," Mike said, ducking as a bullet soared over his head. "It's good exercise." He came up spinning and took out the gun with a chuck to the hand. The gun discharged, and shot another man in the leg.

"Hey," Raph complained, "That guy was mine."

"Sorry," Mike said, throwing his guy toward his brother. "Take this one then."

Raph caught the flying man with a kick in the midsection, and heard the satisfying crack of ribs breaking.

Then he stood up and turned a wide circle. The room was clear, the humans lying flat on the floor, unconscious or groaning.

"See," Raph said to Leo as they left the room, "Five minutes tops."

Leo shrugged, "Let just find Don and get out of here. Mike, you think you can figure it out with our pal there?"

"No," Mike said looking at the robot with disinterest.

"Then we do it ourselves," Raph said. "Mike, you think you can find the room where they held Don?"

"That I can do," Mike said with a grin. "It's on this level, just the other way."

Mike pushed past Leo into the narrow corridor and led them down a straight path. After they passed the stairs, he turned left and ducked into a door that seemed to be on the prow of the ship.

The room was dark, lit only by the flickers of electronics. They fanned out, meeting at the far end of the room.

"He's not here," Raph said, when they met up at the far end of the room.

"So where is he?" Leo asked, looking at Mikey.

He shrugged, "How should I know?"

The lights of the room flickered on. Chong stood by the door, holding a blade. A few dozen men followed him in, all in military uniforms, one pulled in Donatello, shackled and bleeding from several cuts on his arms.

"Well, gentlemen," Chong said as he passed his blade absently from hand to hand. "We are at an impasse. I need you to work for Lord Lim. You refuse. Your brother sabotages my labs and hinders my scientists. And yet, you are the best. I repeat, we are at an impasse."

"We always will be Chong," Leo shouted. "Honor has no place in your empire. We have no place in your empire."

"That's what I was afraid of," Chong answered coolly. He took his blade and absently, drove it into to Don's side. Don fell to his knees with a groan, and then slipped to the floor. "If you will not join us, you will die."

Without warning, the guards opened fire. Raph, Leo and Mike fell to the floor as the shots went over their heads, the bullets making holes in the electronic equipment.

After the first volley, Raph got to his feet and rushed the crowd of the men, screaming his rage. Leo and Mike were only steps behind. It was chaos. Gunfire ripped the air, blades flashed, and screams filled the room.

In a long moment it was over. The three turtle rose, and were unopposed. All of the soldiers were laying on the floor, in their own blood. Raph chased Chang down and pinned him to the wall by his throat.

"Raph, wait." Leo shouted in warning.

"NO," Raph yelled. "He killed Don. Honor demands that he die. Don't try to talk me out of it."

"Yes, but in kind," Leo said, and he pitched his katana to Raph, handle up.

"Wait," a weak voice said from the floor.

Everyone turned to see Don struggle to his knees. "He didn't kill me."

"Yet," Chong squeaked through his teeth. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the device. He set it off and Don collapsed to the floor.

Raph saw red. Chong fell to the ground, lifeless.

They rushed to Don's side. His body was humming with current.

"Look out," Leo commanded, and pushed Raph and Mike to the side. He took his sword back from Raph and cut a gash into the back of his brother's neck. Mike found the torture device and pulled it out. Don's twitching stopped and he lay on the floor motionless.

Mike placed two fingers on his neck. "He's still alive."

"But for how long?" Leo asked. Turning, he cut off a shirt of the nearest man to him, and used the cloth to make a bandage. He wrapped it around the cut in Don's neck.

"We need to get out of here," Mike said, fingering the blade in Don's side.

"And go where? We're in the middle of the fricking ocean. Don would never survive a trip back to the mainland, and there isn't anything we could do for him once we got there." Leo countered. He used the rest of the shirt and tied a bandage around Mike's arm where he was bleeding from a bullet graze. Then he started pacing the room. Finally he came to stop and turned to face his brothers.

Raph asked, "What are you thinking?"

Leo's eyes flashed darkly. "I have an idea."


	16. Chapter 16

"Why are the windows in ships all circles," Mike asked, peering in one.

"How the hell would we know?" Raph shot back. "Is this the room?"

"No," Mike said. He slipped ahead to the next room and peaked his eyes into the next door. "But it doesn't make any sense. Every other window in the world is a rectangle."

"Is that it?" Raph asked.

"No," Mike turned and checked the door on the other side of the hall. "But wouldn't you think a circular window would be really hard to make?"

Raph growled, "Would you knock it off? Ask the brainac when he wakes up."

"If he wakes up," Leo echoed, staring down at his brother. He was holding Don's upper body and Raph had his legs. They had left the blade in place, hoping that they could find…

"Guys, here," Mike said at last, carefully opening a door two stories below the lab that had just been trashed.

Mike slipped inside and the waved for them to enter behind him. The brothers followed, and found themselves in the sick bay. Two cots with white sheets sat side by side in the middle of the room. Raph and Leo laid Don down and then they stared at each other.

"So where is the doctor?" Raph asked.

"Not here apparently," Leo said, finishing a sweep of the small room with his eyes.

"So step one," Mike said looking to Leo, "is finding the doc?"

Leo nodded.

"But this is a pretty safe place," Mike reasoned, "and it has everything that we need for him. So why doesn't one of wait here and the other two find the doctor."

"That would be faster," Raph agreed.

"That means you stay," Leo said giving Raph a look.

"Why me?" Raph asked.

"Because you're his buddy," Leo said, echoing Raph's words of a week ago. Then he gave Raph a smile and then added, "and since you've already avenged his death, it seems right somehow."

Raph cracked a rare grin and then pulled his sais out, folded his arms and laid his daggers on his shoulders. He put himself between Don and the door. "Be fast," he said.

"Count on it." Leo said and he and Mike headed out the door.

* * *

Five minutes passed quietly and then the door of sick bay banged open. An unfamiliar voice said, "Put him on the bed. He's the worst, we'll find spots for the others."

Two men opened the door, saw Raph, and then they ran the other way. A minute later, Raph heard the clank of metal and he pulled Don off the bed in time for the door to be blasted open by gunfire. He pulled his brother behind metal cabinets and waited for the onslaught to stop.

It did, but it took five minutes. Eventually Raph heard a scuffle, a couple of thuds, and then Leo appeared in the doorway.

"Raph," Leo called. "You okay."

"Yeah," Raph replied, standing up. "They didn't hit us."

"I've got the doctor," Leo said, shoving the man into the room. "Convince him."

The medic looked half sleepy, half terrified. He put his hands in the air. "I'll do want you want. I'm a doctor, not a fighter."

Raph pulled Don in the middle of the room, which was now totally filled with gun holes. "Fix him," Raph commanded, towering over the man. "Or I'll gut you with my bare hands."

The medic knelt by Don and examined the blade sticking out of his side. He shook his head and backed up. "This isn't right. I don't know what's wrong. I can't guarantee anything," he said.

Raph stared at him, passing one of his sais from hand to hand. Raph threw it suddenly. It embedded itself in the wall, an inch from the medic's right ear.

"You will try," Raph said, locking him into an intense stare. "Or you will die. If you help him, you'll live. You will be the only member of this group that will survive the night."

"What do you mean by that?" the medic asked, looking between the dagger in the wall and the turtle.

"By daybreak, this whole operation will be gone. If you want to follow your leader to his death that's your choice. If you want to survive to see another sunrise, help him."

"He's my brother," the medic said staring Raph in the face. "Lim is my brother. You can't kill him. He's not a killer. Yes, he robbed. Yes he stole. Yes he attacked many people, but he never killed where he could help it. He, like you, follows the code of Bushido. He's a thief, but not a killer."

"Then why does my brother have a blade in his side? Why did he have a torture device in his neck? You put it there didn't you?" Raph said advancing on him. "You put that thing in my brother's neck so that you could control him, so you could bend him to your will. Well it didn't work. At least it's gone, you can't hurt him anymore."

The medic looked down at the turtle at his feet. "You took out the device?"

"Yeah, a few minutes ago."

The medic swore, dropped back to his knees, and pulled back the bandages on Don's neck. "You can't take that thing out. It was attached to his nervous system. I was wondering why he was unconscious. I knew what Chong was planning. I knew that he intended to make you believe that he had killed your brother so that you would attack and he would be free kill to the rest of you. Chong wanted Donatello alive, and so does my brother."

"You know his name," Raph asked. They had been careful not to mention their names in company with any of the enemy.

"We'd studied you for months before we made a move. I know you, all of you. You call yourself Raphael Hamoto. You are the strongest of the four and the most aggressive. You are the most likely to fight, most likely to be caught unaware of your surroundings. The most reckless of the your brothers.

"This one," he said, carefully turning Don's head to the side, "is the most intelligent, but the weakest fighter. He is your wild card, the one that you alternately rely on to save your skins, but then you must protect him."

"The other two are Leonardo in blue, and Michelangelo in orange. Leonardo seems to call the shots for your team and is the most skilled ninja, a master in training, bound to become leader of your clan. Michelangelo is fast and furious in a fight, but doesn't have your motivation or Leonardo's discipline.

"We know you as gentlemen of honor. And we have tried to treat you as such."

Raph swore at him, "All I know if that you don't help him, you'll be dead."

"I can't do that here. You took the neuro-stimulator off of his spinal column. That in itself might have killed him. The blade wound looks nasty, but if Chong did what he told me he was going to do, it shouldn't have hit anything major. Painful but recoverable. The stimulator could have caused brain damage."

"What does he need?" Raph pushed. He heard sounds of a scuffle outside and a few gunshots. "Leo?" Raph asked.

"I'm fine," Leo called back.

"He needs surgery," the medic said, as he rewrapped Leo's bandage back in place. "and a place to recover. I can take off the stimulator, but it will be tricky and," he winced as another round of gunfire, closer this time, rang in the hallway, "I can't do it here. Not like this. I need an operating room, I need lights, I need a nurse," more gunfire, "I need to do it when I'm not worried that I'm going to be shot, otherwise I could screw up your brother's brain stem, which if you didn't know, is what keeps you breathing."

Raph digested that, "Did you hear that Leo?"

"Yeah," Leo said, but he sounded winded. "We should be set by now. So now we just need Lim."

"Why do you need him," the medic calling through the door.

"Your operation will stop tonight, and it will never appear in New York again. If you brother follows the code of Bushido, then maybe we can you let you live," Leo said. "Good, Mikey's back."

Raph heard the quick steps and Mike peeked his head in the room, he was wet, but he grinned from ear to ear. He held up a device in his hand. "All set."

"It's time to confront Lim," Leo said. He walked back into the room, grabbed the medic by his shirt and drug him out of the room. Raph grabbed Don and they followed Leo down the narrow corridor.

Despite the hour, Leo knew he would find Lim in his throne room. And he was there, pacing the long wall, his black robes billowing behind him. He turned to face them as they entered. Leo pulled the medic to the front and placed his katana on the man's neck.

"This will stop tonight," Leo said calmly. "While you were shooting at two of my brothers, my other brother placed explosives, your own explosives from your warehouse, all over the bottom and sides of this ship. They are wired to go off when we press this button," Leo said, showing him the device that Mike had. "This will stop tonight."

Lim's black eyes flicked from Leo to Raph to Mike and then to his brother, standing in front.

"I would have to agree," Lim said, cocking his head to one side. "I've been informed that Lt. Chong has been run through by a sword. That sword I believe. It might interest you to know that he is not dead, although perhaps it would be better for him if he were."

"Then we're even," Leo said. "My brother, your lieutenant… neither dead, neither likely to survive. Stalemate."

"Except that you are holding my brother," Lim said without passion, like it was a curiosity.

"I need him. He represents the only chance my brother has of survival."

"He is my brother," Lim said again. He walked over to with three paces of Leo.

"He will survive," Leo said, "You and your crew may not. By dawn this ship will be underwater. My question to you: Are you a man of honor?"

Lim pulled off his black cloak. Underneath he was wearing a black kung fu uniform. Twin blades hung at his sides. "I am. Are you?"

"I follow the code of Bushido," Leo said. "Rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honor, and…"

"Loyalty," Lim finished. Leo pushed the medic toward Mike, who quickly wrapped one of his nun chucks around the man's neck.

Leo and Lim started to circle each other, their eyes never leaving each other's faces.

"How can you call yourself a man of honor?" Leo asked.

Lim grunted and then charged him with his sword. "I have nothing else beside my honor,"

Leo caught the blow, and deflected it and then parried. "You have a brother."

"Which is all is left of my family," Lim said his teeth clenched. He spun and slashed downward.

Leo pulled his swords up, catching Lim's blades, and then spinning knocked Lim to the ground. "You destroyed our home and nearly drove my family apart. All for money. How is that honor?"

Lim sprang upwards. With lightening speed he thrust forward, clipping Leo's shoulder before Leo kicked the sword out of his hand. It skittered away, landing near Raph's feet. Lim dropped back several steps, passing his remain sword from hand to hand. Leo crossed his swords in front of himself and dropped to his knees. Lim looked stunned, but recovered quickly. Lim turned toward his sword. Raph picked it up and pitched it, blade down, back to Lim.

Lim caught it and then looked between Leo and Raph, back to Don and then to Mike who had his brother around the neck. Lim crossed his swords in front of himself, and then Leo jumped to his feet. The began to circle again.

"I am a man of honor," Lim said, as they circled. "The money I take is for the poor of my country. My nation is devastated by poverty. The United States is rich beyond measure. I take things that people don't need and turn them into food for the starving, into medicine for the dying. I do what I have to do."

Leo went on the offensive. His sword arched and slashed, always being caught by Lim's straight blade. "So you attack my family, imprison my family, try to kill my family. How does that fit with rectitude?"

Lim dodged a blow, and caught another above his head. "Because you are not human. You are animals. We eat turtles in my country."

Leo growled and pushed Lim backward. Lim tried to defend, but Leo pressed him hard, the steel flashing in the dim light.

A blow caught Lim on the side and he staggered backward until his back hit the wall. "But perhaps I was mistaken," Lim said as he found swords on either side of his neck.

After a long moment of silence, Lim said, "If you kill me, my death with inspire revenge. Not just by my family, but by a nation in need. You kill me today, a thousand children go hungry tomorrow. I am larger than this ship, I am larger than the plans in New York City. I will live on forever, and they will hunt you down. As you said earlier. Stalemate."

The medic called from Mike's side, "We have never killed a member of your clan. Don't start this now."

"Raph?" Leo asked. Leo didn't know why he asked. He figured he knew what Raph's answer was going to be. But this action had too much riding on it for him to make the choice alone. If he killed Lim, it would be clan warfare.

Raph paused for almost a minute before answering. "No. Don't kill him." he said, shaking his head like he couldn't believe he was saying it. "He's right. They've never killed one of our clan. Besides, alive, he can help us. They might even be able to save Don. Dead, they are no use at all and Don is gone forever."

Leo gave a long nod, his eyes never leaving Lim's face. "I give your life and the lives of your men and your brother. In exchange, my brother needs care that you can provide."

"It will be done," Lim said bowing his head.

"I need transportation to the main land," Leo continued.

Lim nodded, "Agreed."

"This ship will go under at dawn," Leo said. He released the swords around his neck and backed up several steps. "You have six hours to off load your men and supplies." Leo dropped his swords and backed up.

Lim nodded, and then he put his hands together and bowed. Leo followed suit.

Leo continued, "I will hold your brother until my brother has been cared for, and we have transportation to the mainland."

Lim nodded again, and then he swept from the room, pausing long enough to clasp his brother's shoulder.

After he left, Leo turned to Mikey, "You can let go of him. Raph guard the door."

"Sorry dude," Mike said letting the weapon fall.

Leo approached the medic, who was rubbing his neck. "I have trusted you. If your brother reneges on his honor, he will not be the only one to die."

"I know," the medic said, lowering his head in an almost bow "But he will not. It is all we have. Let me attend to your brother now."

Leo turned sideways to let the man pass. The medic dropped to his knees where Don was lying on the floor.

"Can one of you give me a hand?" he asked, looking pointedly at Mikey.

Mike nodded and dropped to his knees beside him.  
"Could you put him on his front?"

Mike, with Leo's help, picked up Don and set him gently on his stomach. The medic unwound the bandages from around his neck. Then he probed gently into the knife hole that Leo had made. Then he checked Don's pulse again.

"Hmm," the medic said to himself.

"What?" Leo asked.

"If you would have taken out the device in his neck, it would have killed him. Since he is still alive, and apparently stable, I wonder if you actually got rid of it."

The medic placed his hand inside Don's neck and then quickly withdrew it. He wiped his bloody fingers off on his pants and said, "No, it's still there. You just took off the antenna. He'll survive"

"Even with the sword in his side?" Leo asked.

"That I can fix," the medic said grimly. "It won't be pretty, it will take forever to heal, but he'll be okay."

* * *

As the sun slide over the horizon, Leo, standing on the deck of a pontoon boat, set off the explosion. It was anti-climactic really. Lim and his group had cleared out a half hour earlier, good to his word. They were alone in a desert of water.

The explosion had no sound. In fact, other than a minor volcano of water shooting up, it looked like nothing had happened.

Raph glanced over to Leo, "Are we sure that Mike set the explosives right? You remember the last time we trusted him with a bomb."

"Hey," Mike said. "It'll work, trust me."

Ever so slowly the big freighter started to move, until it melted into the ocean.

"See," Mike said.

"How did you know how to set the explosives?" Leo asked turning to look at him.

"There were directions on the box," Mike said. "Just like making Mac and Cheese."

Raph started to hit Mike on the head, then thought better of it, and instead walked to the drivers seat laughing.

The medic had already taken out the device in Don's neck and the sword. Don was resting peacefully on a long bench in the back of the boat. There was an IV line in each of his arms. One was feeding him a steady supply of new blood, one pint each from Leo, Mike and Raph. The other drip line was giving him fluid, pain meds, and antibiotics. They had a crate of antibiotics, pain meds, and fluids from the stash on Lim's ship.

The sword wound wasn't bad. It looked much worse than it was. Chong had used a retracting blade. It was meant to look bad. The blade itself was only six inches long. The medic said it would have hurt like hell, but it didn't cause much damage.

Lim had told them he would focus on a different city, leaving New York alone. He had enough take from New York to fund his group for another year or two, so they still would be functional while they set up again. Mikey had suggested Boston, and to specifically destroy the Red Sox stadium, but Lim had other plans, that he refused to elaborate on.

Leo and Raph decided to let it drop. Their family was safe, New York City was safe and who were they to question the motives of a Robin Hood. Which side was right anyway?

Raph turned the boat east, into the rising sun and to home.

* * *


	17. Epilogue

Raph and Don stood in the dojo, facing each other. They bowed to each other, Red against Purple. Leo, Mike, and Splinter sat on the sidelines, watching.

"You don't have to do this you know," Raph said as they started to circle. "You know that I can also kick the crap out of you."

Don gave him an amused smile. "As Luke Skywalker once said, 'Your overconfidence is your weakness.'"

Mike burst out from the sidelines, "Hey, I've got a great idea, Star Wars marathon night, start with episode 1, and take it all the way to episode 6. That'd be awesome."

"That would take over 12 hours," Leo said dryly, "Count me out."

"So it'd be a movie marathon day," Mike amended. "Starting whenever this is over. Would you two hurry up."

"My pleasure," Raph said, going on the offense. He came at Don with a series of rapid fire combinations, finishing with a powerful roundhouse kick. Don dodged the kick with a cocky smile.

"Bring it on, brother," Don said,.

Raph did, attack after attack after attack. Don defended, easily enough, but he made no move to press any advantage.

After about ten minutes of this, Raph was panting heavily, Don was sweating, Splinter and Leo were puzzled, and Mike was getting bored.

"Would you guys hurry up? I've got a date with a princess… Princess Leia that is." Mike said.

Raph made another several more charges, with Don just defending. Finally Raph shoved his brother in annoyance, "I thought you said we were going to fight. For vehicle maintenance duties for the next three months. Why aren't you fighting back?"

"We are," Don said smiling mischievously, "But you said you could always kick my shell. Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Kicking my shell?"

Raph paused. He had gotten a couple good shots in, but not enough for that. "No. Just give me some more time."

"Sure," Don said, smiling again. "Bring it."

Raph attacked with renewed vigor. But again after five minutes, he hadn't gotten any good shots in, Don was still not attacking back, and Mike was irritably pacing the side of the room.

"Would you two hurry up already?" Mike asked. "This is so boring."

Raph growled in frustration, "Why won't you attack back?"

"Because I can't beat you. I never could. I never will be able to. All of you are better fighters. But you can't kick me around either. I just thought I should remind you of that. As long as I focus on defending myself, I can't be beaten. I won't win, but I won't lose either."

Raph shook his head, "Then who has to do vehicle maintenance for a month. It's a bigger job now too, since we have a boat."

Splinter joined them in the middle of the room, "I believe that your brother is asking you to share the duties."

"Exactly," Don agreed, giving Raph a look that Raph hadn't seen in a long time. It was something like pride, but with affection and respect mixed in.

"So," Don went on after he had bowed to Raph, "Shall we go see a princess about the force?"

"Sure," Raph said, "As long as Mikey don't start kissing the TV again."

"You can borrow my bo. If he gets too close, you can smack him over the head with it."

"Hey," Mike said, "That's not fair, you guys are gaining up on me."

"It takes two people to keep you in line," Don said, grabbing him by the neck and dragging him forward a few steps. "It's probably good that you are the "little" brother. Otherwise, we'd have to take you to the back shed and kick the crap out of you."

"We don't have a shed," Mike said, worming out of Don's headlock.

"Exactly my point," Don said as they walked toward the door.

"You guys have fun," Leo said.

Mike, Don, and Raph glanced between each other. As one they tackled Leo, and then Don tied his hands together in front of him, with Leo's own headband.

"You're not getting out this one, Leo," Don said chucking.

"Don't make me watch 12 hours of TV," Leo complained. "My brain will rot, my body will decay."

"It's probably closer to 15 hours," Mike said with a grin.

"15 hours that you get to spend with your brothers," Raph said, dragging him out. "What is better than that?"

Splinter smiled as he watched them leave. As he sat down to mediate, he heard the movie start, and knew that they would survive, no matter what happened.

* * *

_AN: Thank you to all the people who read this fic, everyone who left notes, and especially to Ozlex, my fantastic, albeit MIA, beta reader. _


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